AVAILABLE  ON   FICHZ 


LIBRA.RY 

OF  THE 

Theological   Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.  J. 

BX  9841  .P3  1870 
Parker,  Theodore,  1810-1860. 
A  discourse  of  matters 
pertaining  to  religion 


r^   * 


\:i 


.-•;-•.   '^^ 


DISCOURSE 


OP 


MATTERS   PERTAINING  TO  RELIGION. 


DISCOURSE 


ov 


MATTERS  PERTAINING  TO   RELIGION. 


THEODORE    PARKER. 


**  If  an  offence  come  out  of  the  Truth,  better  is  it  that  the  ofifemce  come,  than  the 
Truth  be  concealed."  —  Jerome. 


FIFTH     EDITION. 

BOSTON: 

HORACE      B.     FULLER, 

14,  Bromfield  Street. 

1870. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

THEODORE    PARKER, 

In  the  Clerk's  OflSce  of  the  District  Conrt  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


PREFACE 


TO     THE    FIRST     EDITION 


The  following  pages  contain  the  substance  of  a  se- 
ries of  five  lectures  delivered  in  Boston,  during  the  last 
autumn,  at  the  request  of  several  gentlemen.  In  pre- 
paring the  work  for  the  press  I  have  enlarged  on  many 
subjects,  which  could  be  but  slightly  touched  in  a  brief 
lecture.  It  was  with  much  diffidence  that  I  then  gave 
my  opinions  to  the  public  in  that  form ;  but  considering 
the  state  of  theological  learning  amongst  us,  and  the 
frequent  abuse  of  the  name  of  Religion,  I  can  no  longer 
withhold  my  humble  mite. 

It  is  the  design  of  this  work  to  recall  men  from  the 
transient  shows  of  time,  to  the  permanent  substance  of 
Rehgion ;  from  a  worship  of  Creeds  and  empty  Belief, 
to  a  worship  in  the  Spirit  and  in  Life.  If  it  satisfy  the 
doubting  soul,  and  help  the  serious  inquirer  to  true 
views  of  God,  Man,  the  Relation  between  them,  and 
the  Duties  which  come  of  that  relation ;  if  it  make 
Rehgion  appear  more  congenial  and  attractive,  and  a 
Divine  Life  more  beautiful  and  sweet  than  heretofore 

A*  (V) 


vi  PREFACE. 

—  my  end  is  answered.  I  have  not  sought  to  pull 
down,  but  to  build  up ;  to  remove  the  rubbish  of  human 
inventions  from  the  fair  temple  of  Divine  Truth,  that 
men  may  enter  its  shining  gates  and  be  blessed  now 
and  forever. 

I  have  found  it  necessary,  though  painful,  to  speak 
of  many  popular  delusions,  and  expose  their  fal- 
lacy and  dangerous  character,  but  have  not,  I  trust, 
been  blind  to  "  the  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil," 
though  I  have  taken  no  great  pains  to  speak  smooth 
things,  or  say  Peace,  Peace,  when  there  was  no  peace. 
The  subject  of  Book  IV.  might  seem  to  require  a 
greater  space  than  I  have  allowed  it,  but  a  cursory 
examination  of  many  points  there  hinted  at,  would 
require  a  volume,  and  I  did  not  wish  to  repeat  what  is 
said  elsewhere,  and  therefore  have  referred  to  an  "  In- 
troduction to  the  Old  Testament  on  the  basis  of  De 
Wette,"  which  is  now  in  the  press,  and  will  probably 
come  before  the  public  in  a  few  months.  Some  of  the 
thoughts  here  set  forth  have  also  appeared  in  the  Dial 
for  1840-42.  I  can  only  wish  that  the  Errors  of  this 
book  may  find  no  favor,  but  perish  speedily,  and  that 
the  Truths  it  humbly  aims  to  set  forth,  may  do  their 
good  and  beautiful  work. 

West  Roxbury,  Masjs.  ] 
7th  May,  1842.  > 


PREFACE 

TO    THE    FOURTH    EDITION. 


It  is  now  fourteen  years  since  I  prepared  the  first  edi- 
tion of  this  volume.  In  that  time  laborious  Germans, 
some  of  them  men  of  great  genius,  have  investigated 
the  history  of  the  first  and  second  centuries  of  the  Chris- 
tian Era  with  an  amount  of  learning,  patience,  sagacity, 
and  freedom  of  thought  never  before  directed  to  that 
inquiry.  Partly  by  their  help,  and  partly  by  my  own 
investigations,  I  have  been,  led  to  conclude  that  the 
fourth  Gospel  is  not  the  work  of  John  the  Disciple  of 
Jesus,  but  belongs  to  a  later  period,  and  is  of  small  his- 
torical value.  This  conclusion  and  its  consequences 
will  appear  in  some  alterations  made  in  this  volume, 
which  I  have  carefully  revised  in  the  light  of  the  theo- 
logical science  of  the  present  day.  I  know  there  are 
Truths  in  the  Book  which  must  prevail ;  the  Errors 
connected  therewith  I  invite  men  to  expose  and  leave 
them  to  perish,  that  the  Truths  may  the  more  readily 
do  their  work.  I  commit  both  to  the  Justice  of  Man- 
kind. 

Boston,  Dec.  25,  1855. 

(vu) 


CONTENTS. 


The  Introduction 


BOOK  I. 


OP   RELIGION   IN   GENERAL  :   OR  A  DISCOURSE   OF   THE  RELIGIOUS 
ELEMENT    AND    ITS    MANIFESTATIONS. 

PACCB 

Chap.  I.  An  Examination  of  the  Religious  Element  in  Man, 

and  the  Existence  of  its  Object     .         .         .         .11 
n.  Of  the  Sentiment,  Idea,  and  Conception  of  God         .       1 9 
in.  Extent  and  Power  of  the  Religious  Sentiment  .         .       28 
IV.  The  Idea  of  Religion  connected  with  Science  and 

Life 42 

V.  The  three  great  Historical  Forms  of  Religion    .         .       ^0 
VI.  Of  certain  Doctrines  connected  with  Religion,     i.  Of 
the  Primitive  State  of  Mankind,     ii.  Of  the  Im- 
mortality of  the  Soul .108 

VII.  The  Influence  of  the  Religious  Sentiment  on  Life     .     128 

BOOK  II. 

THE    RELATION    OF    THE    RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT    TO     GOD,    OR     A 
DISCOURSE   OF   INSPIRATION. 

Chap.  I.  The  Idea  and  Conception  of  God        .        .        .        .151 
II.  The  Relation  of  Nature  to  God  .        .        .        .161 

in.  Statement  of  the  Analogy  drawn  from  God's  Relation 

to  Nature 171 

(ix) 


X  CONTENTS. 

Chap.  IV.  The  General  Relation  of  Supply  to  Want 

V.  Statement  of  tlie  Analog}""  from  this  Relation   . 
VI.  The  Rationalistic  View,  or  Naturalism 
\'n.  The  Anti-rationalistic  View,  or  Supernaturalism 
Wll.  The  Natural-Religious  View,  or  Spiritualism   . 


173 

179 

185 
194 
201 


BOOK  III. 

THE     RELATION     OF     THE     RELIGIOUS     ELEMENT     TO     JESUS     OF 
NAZARETH,    OR    A   DISCOURSE    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Chap.  I.  Statement  of  the  Question  and  the  Method  of  Inquiry  221 
n.  Removal    of   some    Difficulties.       Character   of  the 

Christian  Records 229 

ITT.  The  Main  Features  of  Christianity     .         .         .         .235 
IV.  The   Authority   of  Jesus,   its    Real   and   Pretended 

Source .  248 

V.  The  Essential  Peculiarity  of  the  Christian  Religion     .  269 
VI.  The  Moral  and  Religious  Character  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth          276 

VII.  Mistakes  about  Jesus  —  his  Reception  and  Influence  284 

BOOK  IV. 

THE    RELATION    OF    THE    RELIGIOUS     ELEMENT     TO     THE    GREAT- 
EST  OF    BOOKS,    OR    A    DISCOURSE    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Chap.  I.  Position  of  the  Bible  —  Claims  made  for  it  —  State- 
ment of  the  Question     .         .         .         .         .         .301 

n.  An  Examination  of  the  Claims  of  the  Old  Testament 
to  be  a  Divine,  IVIiraculous,  or  InfaUible  Composi- 
tion         310 

m.  An  Examination  of  the  Claims  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  be  a  Divine,  Miraculous,  or  Infallible  Com- 
position .........     332 

IV.  The    Absolute   Religion   independent    of   Historical 

Documents  —  the  Bible  as  it  is       .         .         .         .     344 

.    V.  Cause  of  the  False  and  the  Real  Veneration  for  the 

Bible 348 


CONTENTS.  xi 


BOOK  V. 

THE   RELATION  OF    THE    RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT  TO   THE  GREATEST 
OF   HUMAN   INSTITUTIONS,  OR  A  DISCOURSE   OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Chap.  I.  Claims  of  the  Christian  Church        ....  359 
n.  The  Gradual  Formation  of  the  Christian  Church       .  366 
in.  The  Fundamental  and  Distinctive  Idea  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  —  Division  of  the  Christian  Sects       .  381 

IV.  The  Catholic  Party 384 

V.  The  Protestant  Party 408 

VI.  Of  the  Party  that  are  neither  Catholics  nor  Protes- 
tants        444 

VII.  The  Final  Answer  to  the  Question  ....  448 

The  Conclusion 453 


THE   INTRODUCTION. 


"  To  false  Religion,  we  are  indebted  for  persecutors,  zealots,  and  bigots  ;  and  perhaps 
human  depravity  has  assumed  no  forms,  at  once  more  odious  and  despicable,  than 
those  in  which  it  has  appeared  in  such  men.  I  will  say  nothing  of  persecution  ;  it  has 
passed  away,  I  trust,  forever  ;  and  torture  will  no  more  be  iuflicted,  and  murder  no 
more  committed,  under  pretence  of  extending  the  spirit  and  influence  of  Christianity. 
But  the  temper  which  produced  it  still  remains  ;  its  parent  bigotry  is  still  in  existence  ; 
and  what  is  there  more  adapted  to  excite  thorough  disgust,  than  the  disposition,  the 
feelings,  the  motives,  the  kind  of  intellect  and  degree  of  knowledge,  discovered  by  some 
of  those,  who  are  pretending  to  be  the  sole  defenders  and  patrons  of  religious  truth  ia 
this  unhappy  world,  and  the  true  and  exclusive  heirs  of  all  the  mercy  of  God  ?  It  is  a 
particular  misfortune,  that  when  gross  errors  in  religion  prevail,  the  vices  of  which  I 
speak,  show  themselves  especially  in  the  clergy  ;  and  that  we  find  them  ignorant,  narrow- 
minded,  presumptuous,  and  as  far  as  they  have  it  in  their  power,  oppressive  and  impe- 
rious. The  disgust  which  this  character  in  those  who  appear  as  ministers  of  religion, 
naturally  produces,  is  often  transferred  to  Christianity  itself.  It  ought  to  be  associated 
only  with  that  form  of  religion  by  which  those  vices  are  occasioned."  — Andrews  Nob- 
TON,  Thoughts  on  true  and  false  Religion,  second  edition,  pp.  15, 16. 

(2) 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


The  history  of  the  world  shows  clearly  that  Religion 
is  the  highest  of  all  human  concerns.  Yet  the  greatest 
good  is  often  subject  to  the  worst  abuse.  The  doc- 
trines and  ceremonies  that  represent  the  popular  relig- 
ion at  this  time,  offer  a  strange  mingling  of  truth  and 
error.  Theology  is  often  confounded  with  Religion  ; 
men  exhaust  their  strength  in  believing,  and  so  have 
little  Reason  to  inquire  with,  or  solid  Piety  to  live  by. 
It  requires  no  prophet  to  see  that  what  is  popularly 
taught  and  accepted  as  Religion  is  no  very  divine  thing  ; 
not  fitted  to  make  the  world  purer,  and  men  more  wor- 
thy to  live  in  it.  In  the  popular  belief  of  the  present, 
as  of  all  time,  there  is  something  mutable  and  fleeting  ; 
something  also  which  is  eternally  the  same.  The  for- 
mer lies  on  the  surface,  and  all  can  see  it ;  the  latter 
lies  deep  and  often  escapes  observation.  Our  popular 
theology  is  mainly  based  on  the  superficial  and  tran- 
sient element.  It  stands  by  the  forbearance  of  the 
skeptic.  They  who  rely  on  it,  are  always  in  danger 
and  always  in  dread.  A  doubt  strongly  put,  shakes  the 
pulpits  of  New  England,  and  wakens  the  thunder  of 
the  chm-ches ;  the  more  reasonable  the  doubt  the  greater 
the  alarm.     Do  men  fear  lest  the  mountains  fall :  Tra- 

•  (3) 


4  THE    INTRODUCTION. 

ditioii  is  always  uncertain.  "  Perhaps  yes,  perhaps  no,'^ 
is  all  we  can  say  of  it.  Yet  it  is  made  the  basis  of 
Religion.  Authority  is  taken  for  Truth,  and  not  Truth 
for  Authority.  Belief  is  made  the  Substance  of  Relig- 
ion, as  Authority  its  Sanction  and  Tradition  its 
Ground.  The  name  of  Infidel  is  applied  to  the  best 
of  men  ;  the  wisest,  the  most  spiritual  and  heavenly  of 
our  brothers.  The  bad  and  the  foolish  naturally  ask, 
If  the  name  be  deserved,  what  is  the  use  of  Religion, 
as  good  men  and  wise  men  can  be  good  and  wise, 
heavenly  and  spiritual  without  it  ?  The  answer  is 
plain  —  but  not  to  the  blind. 

Practical  Religion  implies  both  a  Sentiment  and  a 
Life.  We  honor  a  phantom  which  is  neither  life  nor 
sentiment.  Yes,  we  have  two  Spectres  that  often  take 
the  place  of  Religion  with  us.  The  one  is  a  Shadow 
of  the  Sentiment ;  that  is  our  creed,  belief,  theology,  by 
whatever  name  we  call  it.  The  other  is  the  Ghost  of 
Life  ;  this  is  our  ceremonies,  forms,  devout  practices. 
The  two  Spectres  by  turns  act  the  part  of  Religion, 
and  we  are  called  Christians  because  we  assist  at  the 
show.  Real  Piety  is  expected  of  but  few.  He  is  called 
a  Christian  that  bows  to  the  Idol  of  his  Tribe,  and  sets 
up  also  a  lesser,  but  orthodox  Idol  in  his  own  Den. 
One  word  of  the  Prophet  is  true  of  our  religion  —  Its 
voice  is  not  heard  in  the  streets.  Our  theology  is  full 
of  confusion.  They  who  admit  Reason  to  look  upon 
it  confound  the  matter  still  more,  for  a  great  revolution 
of  thought  alone  can  set  affairs  right. 

Religion  is  separated  from  Life  ;  divorced  from  bed 
and  board.  We  think  to  be  religious  without  love  for 
men,  and  pious  with  none  for  God ;  or,  which  is  the 
same  thing,  that  we  can  love  our  neighbor  without 
helping  him,  and  God  without  having  an  idea  of  Him. 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  O 

The  prevailing  theology  represents  God  as  a  being 
whom  a  good  man  must  hate  ;  Religion  is  something 
alien  to  our  nature,  which  can  only  rise  as  Reason  falls. 
A  despair  of  Man  pervades  our  Theology.  Pious  men 
mourn  at  the  famine  in  our  churches ;  we  do  not  be- 
lieve in  the  inspiration  of  goodness  now ;  only  in  the 
tradition  of  goodness  long  ago.  For  all  theological 
purposes,  God  might  have  been  buried  after  the  ascen- 
sion of  Jesus,  We  dare  not  approach  the  Infinite  One 
face  to  face ;  we  whine  and  whimper  in  our  brother's 
name,  as  if  we  could  only  appear  before  the  Omnipres- 
ent by  Attorney. 

Our  reverence  for  the  Past,  is  just  in  proportion  to 
our  ignorance  of  it.  We  think  God  was  once  every- 
where in  the  World  and  in  the  Soul ;  but  has  now 
crept  into  a  corner,  as  good  as  dead ;  that  the  Bible 
was  his  last  word.  Instead  of  the  Father  of  All  for 
our  God,  we  have  two  Idols ;  the  Bible,  a  record  of 
men's  words  and  works  ;  and  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man 
who  lived  divinely  some  centuries  ago.  These  are  the 
Idols  of  the  religious  ;  our  standard  of  truth  ;  the  gods 
in  whom  we  trust  Mammon,  the  great  Idol  of  men 
not  religious — who  overtops  them  both,  and  has  the 
sincerest  worshippers  —  need  not  now  be  named.  His 
votaries  know  they  are  idolaters  ;  the  others  worship  in 
ignorance,  their  faith  fixed  mainly  on  transient  things. 

I  know  there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule.  Saints 
never  fail  from  the  earth.  Reason  will  claim  some  de- 
serted niche  in  every  church.  But  wise  men  grieve 
over  our  notions  of  Religion  —  so  poor,  so  alien  to  Rea- 
son. Pious  men  weep  over  our  practice  of  Religion  — 
so  far  from  Christianity.  What  passes  for  Christianity 
in  our  times  is  not  reasonable;  no  man  pretends  it.  It 
can  only  be  defended  by  forbidding  a  reasonable  man 


6  THE    INTRODUCTION. 

to  open  his  mouth.  We  go  from  the  street  to  the 
church.  What  a  change !  Reason  and  good  sense 
and  manly  energy,  which  do  their  work  in  the  world, 
have  here  little  to  do ;  their  voice  is  not  heard.  The 
morality,  however,  is  the  same  in  both  places ;  it  has 
only  laid  off  its  working  dress,  smoothed  its  face,  put 
on  its  Sunday  clothes. 

The  popular  theology  is  hostile  to  man  ;  tells  us  he 
is  an  outcast;  not  a  child  of  God,  but  a  spurious  issue 
of  the  devil.  He  must  not  even  pray  in  his  own  name. 
His  duty  is  an  impossible  thing.  No  man  can  do  it. 
He  deserves  nothing  but  damnation.  Theology  tells 
him  that  is  all  he  is  sure  of.  It  teaches  the  doctrine  of 
immortality  ;  but  in  such  guise,  that,  if  true,  it  is  a 
misfortune  to  mankind.  Its  Heaven  is  a  place  no  man 
has  a  right  to.  Would  a  good  man  willingly  accept 
what  is  not  his  ?  Pray  for  it  ?  This  theology  rests  on 
a  lie.  Men  have  made  it  out  of  assumptions.  The 
conclusions  came  from  the  premises ;  but  the  premises 
were  made  for  the  sake  of  the  conclusions.  Each 
vouches  for  the  other's  truth.  But  what  else  will  vouch 
for  either  ?  The  historical  basis  of  popular  doctrines, 
such  as  Depravity,  Redemption,  Resurrection,  the  In- 
carnation —  is  it  formed  of  Facts  or  of  No-Facts  ? 
Who  shall  tell  us  ?  Do  not  the  wise  men  look  after 
these  things  ?  One  must  needs  blush  for  the  patience 
of  mankind. 

But  has  Religion  only  the  bubble  of  Tradition  to  rest 
on  ;  no  other  sanction  than  Authority ;  no  substance 
but  Belief?  They  know  little  of  the  matter  who  say 
it.  Did  Religion  begin  with  what  we  call  Christianity  ? 
Were  there  no  saints  before  Peter  ?  Religion  is  the 
first  spiritual  thing  man  learned  ;  the  last  thing  he  wiU 
abandon.     There  is  but  one  Religion,  as  one  Ocean 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  7 

though  we  call  it  Faith  in  our  church,  and  Infidelity 
out  of  our  church. 

It  is  my  design  in  these  pages  to  recall  men  from  the 
transient  Form  to  the  eternal  Substance  ;  from  outward 
and  false  Belief  to  real  and  Inward  Life  ;  from  this 
partial  Theology  and  its  Idols  of  human  device,  to  that 
universal  Religion  and  its  ever  living  Infinite  God ; 
from  the  temples  of  human  Folly  and  Sin,  which  every 
day  crumble  and  fall,  to  the  inner  Sanctuary  of  the 
Heart  where  the  still  small  voice  will  never  cease  to 
speak.  I  would  show  men  Religion  as  she  is  —  most 
fair  of  all  God's  fairest  children.  If  I  fail  in  this,  it  is 
the  head  that  is  weak,  not  the  heart  that  is  wanting. 


BOOK    I. 


(») 


"  Who  is  there  almost  that  has  not  opinions  planted  in  him  by  education  time  out 
of  mind  ;  which  by  that  means  came  to  be  as  the  municipal  laws  of  the  country,  which 
must  not  be  questioned,  but  are  then  looked  on  with  rcTerence,  as  the  standard  of 
right  and  wrong,  truth  and  falsehood,  when  perhaps  these  so  sacred  opinions  are  but 
the  oracles  of  the  nursery,  or  the  traditional  grare  talk  of  those  who  pretend  to  inform 
our  childhood  ;  who  receive  them  from  hand  to  hand  without  erer  examining  them  ? 
....  These  ancient  preoccupations  of  our  minds,  these  several  and  almost  sacred 
opinions,  are  to  be  examined  if  we  will  make  way  for  truth,  and  put  our  minds  in  that 
freedom  which  belongs  and  is  necessary  to  them.  A  mistake  is  not  the  less  so,  and  will 
never  grow  into  a  truth  because  we  have  believed  it  a  long  time,  though  perhaps  it  be 
the  harder  to  part  with  ;  and  an  error  is  not  the  less  dangerous,  nor  the  less  contrary 
to  truth  because  it  is  cried  up  and  had  in  veneration  by  any  party."  —  Locke,  in  King's 
I//e  of  him,  second  edition  ;  Vol.  I.  pp.  188, 192. 

(10) 


BOOK  I. 


OF  RELIGION  IN  GENERAL  :   OR  A  DISCOURSE  OF  THE  RELIG- 
IOUS ELEMENT   AND  ITS   MANIFESTATIONS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

AN    EXAMINATION    OF    THE    RELIGIOUS     ELEMENT    IN    MAN, 
AND    THE   EXISTENCE    OF   ITS    OBJECT. 

As  we  look  on  the  world  which  Man  has  added  to 
that  which  came  from  the  hand  of  its  Maker,  we  are 
struck  with  the  variety  of  its  objects,  and  the  contra- 
diction between  them.  There  are  institutions  to  pre- 
vent crime  ;  institutions  that  of  necessity  perpetuate 
crime.  This  is  built  on  Selfishness  ;  would  stand  by 
the  downfall  of  Justice  and  Truth.  Side  by  side  there- 
with is  another,  whose  broad  foundation  is  universal 
Love,  —  love  for  all  that  are  of  woman  born.  Thus  we 
see  palaces  and  hovels  ;  jails  and  asylums  for  the  weak, 
arsenals  and  churches,  huddled  together  in  the  strangest 
and  most  intricate  confusion.  How  shall  we  bring  or- 
der out  of  this  chaos ;  account  for  the  existence  of 
these  contradictions  ?  It  is  serious  work  to  decompose 
these  phenomena,  so  various  and  conflicting ;  to  detect 
the  one  cause  in  the  many  results.     But  in  doing  this, 

(11) 


12  THE   RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT. 

we  find  the  root  of  all  in  Man  himself.  In  him  is  the 
same  perplexing  antithesis  which  we  meet  in  all  his 
works.  These  conflicting  things  existed  as  ideas  in  him 
before  they  took  their  present  and  concrete  shape.  Dis- 
cordant causes  have  produced  effects  not  harmonious. 
Out  of  Man  these  institutions  have  grown  ;  out  of  his 
passions,  or  his  judgment  ;  his  senses  or  his  soul. 
Taken  together  they  are  the  exponent  which  indicates 
the  character  and  degree  of  development  the  race  has 
now  attained  ;  they  are  both  the  result  of  the  Past  and 
the  prophecy  of  the  Future. 

From  a  survey  of  Society,  and  an  examination  of 
human  nature,  we  come  at  once  to  the  conclusion,  that 
for  every  institution  out  of  Man  except  that  of  Religion, 
there  is  a  cause  within  him,  either  fleeting  or  permanent ; 
that  the  natural  wants  of  the  body,  the  desire  of  food 
and  raiment,  comfort  and  shelter,  have  organized  them- 
selves, and  instituted  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts ; 
that  the  more  delicate  principles  of  our  nature,  love  of 
the  Beautiful,  the  True,  the  Good,  have  their  organiza- 
tion also  ;  that  the  passions  have  their  artillery,  and  all 
the  gentler  emotions  somewhat  external  to  represent 
themselves,  and  reflect  their  image.  Thus  the  institu- 
tion of  Laws,  with  their  concomitants,  the  Court  house, 
and  the  Jail,  we  refer  to  the  Moral  Sense  of  mankind, 
combining  with  the  despotic  selfishness  of  the  strong, 
whose  might  often  usurps  the  place  of  Justice.  Facto- 
ries and  Commerce,  Railroads  and  Banks,  Schools  and 
Shops,  Armies  and  Newspapers,  are  quite  easily  referred 
to  something  analogous  in  the  wants  of  Man  ;  to  a  last- 
ing principle,  or  a  transient  desire  which  has  projected 
them  out  of  itself.  Thus  we  see  that  these  institutions 
out  of  Man  are  but  the  exhibitions  of  what  is  in  him, 
and  must  be  referred  either  to  eternal  principles,  or  mo- 


THE   RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT.  13 

mentary  passions.     Society  is  the  work  of  Man.     There 
is  nothing  in  society  which  is  not  also  in  him. 

Now  there  is  one  vast  institution,  which  extends  more 
widely  than  human  statutes  ;  claims  the  larger  place  in 
human  affairs  ;  takes  a  deeper  hold  on  men  than  the 
terrible  pomp  of  War,  the  machinery  of  Science,  the 
panoply  of  Comfort.  This  is  the  institution  of  Relig- 
ion, coeval  and  coextensive  with  the  human  race. 
Whence  comes  this  ?  Is  there  an  eternal  principle  in 
us  all,  which  legitimately  and  of  necessity  leads  to  this; 
or  does  it  come,  like  Piracy,  War,  the  Slave-trade,  and 
so  much  other  business  of  Society,  from  the  abuse,  mis- 
direction, and  disease  of  human  nature  ?  Shall  we  re- 
fer this  vast  institution  to  a  passing  passion  which  the 
advancing  race  will  outgrow,  or  does  it  come  from  a 
principle  in  us  deep  and  lasting  as  Man  ? 

To  this  question,  for  many  ages  two  answers  have 
been  given  —  one  foolish,  and  one  wise.  The  foolish 
answer,  which  may  be  read  in  Lucretius  and  elsewhere, 
is,  that  Religion  is  not  a  necessity  of  Man's  nature, 
which  comes  from  the  action  of  eternal  demands  within 
him,  but  is  the  result  of  spiritual  disease,  so  to  say  ;  the 
effect  of  fear,  of  ignorance,  combining  with  selfishness ; 
that  hypocritical  Priests  and  knavish  Kings,  practising 
on  the  ignorance,  the  credulity,  the  passions  and  the 
fears  of  men,  invented  for  their  own  sake,  and  got  up  a 
religion,  in  which  they  put  no  belief,  and  felt  no  spirit- 
ual concern.  But  judging  from  a  superficial  view,  it 
might  as  well  be  said  that  food  and  comfort  were  not 
necessities  of  our  nature,  but  only  cunning  devices  of 
butchers,  mechanics,  and  artists,  to  gain  wealth  and 
power.     Besides,  it  is  not  given  to  hypocrites  under  the 

2 


14  THE   BELIGIOUS    ELEMENT. 

mitre,  nor  over  the  throne,  to  lay  hold  on  the  world  and 
move  it.  Honest  conviction  and  living  faith  are  needed 
for  that  work.  To  move  the  world  of  men  firm  footing 
is  needed.  The  hypocrite  deceives  few  but  himself,  as 
the  attempts  at  pious  frauds,  in  ancient  and  modern 
times,  abundantly  prove. 

The  wise  answer  is,  that  this  institution  of  Religion, 
like  Society,  Friendship,  and  Marriage,  comes  out  of  a 
principle,  deep  and  permanent  in  the  constitution  of 
man  ;  that  as  humble,  and  transient,  and  partial  insti- 
tutions come  out  of  humble,  transient,  and  partial  wants, 
and  are  to  be  traced  to  the  senses  and  the  phenomena 
of  life ;  so  this  sublime,  permanent,  and  universal  insti- 
tution, came  out  from  sublime,  permanent,  and  uni- 
versal wants,  and  must  be  refeiTed  to  the  Soul,  the  re- 
ligious Faculty,  and  so  belongs  among  the  unchanging 
realities  of  life.  Looking,  even  superficially,  but  with 
earnestness,  upon  human  affairs,  we  are  driven  to  con- 
fess, that  there  is  in  us  a  spiritual  nature,  which  directly 
and  legitimately  leads  to  Religion  ;  that  as  Man's  body 
is  connected  with  the  world  of  Matter ;  rooted  in  it , 
has  boljdily  wants,  bodily  senses  to  minister  thereto,  and 
a  fund  of  external  materials,  wherewith  to  gratify  these 
senses,  and  appease  these  wants  ;  so  Man's  soul  is  con- 
nected with  the  world  of  Spirit ;  rooted  in  God  ;  has 
spiritual  wants,  and  spiritual  senses,  and  a  fund  of  ma- 
terials wherewith  to  gratify  these  spiritual  senses,  and 
appease  these  spiritual  wants.  If  this  be  so,  then  do 
not  religious  institutions  come  equally  from  Man  ? 
Must  it  not  be  that  there  is  nothing  in  Religion,  more 
than  in  Society,  which  is  not  implied  in  him  ? 

Now  the  existence  of  a  religious  element  in  us,  is 
not  a  matter  of  hazardous  and  random  conjecture,  nor 


THE   EELIGIOUS    ELEMENT.  15 

attested  only  by  a  superficial  glance  at  the  history  of 
Man,  but  this  principle  is  found  out,  and  its  existence 
demonstrated  in  several  legitimate  ways. 

We  see  the  phenomena  of  worship  and  religious  ob- 
servances ;  of  religious  wants  and  actions  to  supply 
those  wants.  Work  implies  a  hand  that  did,  and  a 
head  that  planned  it.  A  sound  induction  from  these 
facts,  carries  us  back  to  a  religious  principle  in  Man, 
though  the  induction  does  not  determine  the  nature  of 
this  principle,  except  that  it  is  the  cause  of  these  phe- 
nomena. This  common  and  notorious  fact  of  religious 
phenomena  being  found  everywhere,  can  be  explained 
only  on  the  supposition  that  Man  is,  by  the  necessity 
of  his  nature,  inclined  to  Religion  ;  that  worship,  in 
some  form,  gross  or  refined,  in  act,  or  word,  or  thought, 
or  life,  is  natural  and  quite  indispensable  to  the  race. 
K  the  opposite  view  be  taken,  that  there  is  no  religious 
principle  in  Man,  then  there  are  permanent  and  uni- 
versal phenomena  without  a  corresponding  cause,  and 
the  fact  remains  unexplained  and  unaccountable. 

Again,  we  feel  conscious  of  this  element  within  us. 
We  are  not  sufficient  for  ourselves  ;  not  self-originated  ; 
not  self-sustained.  A  few  years  ago,  and  we  were  not ; 
a  few  years  hence,  and  our  bodies  shall  not  be.  A  mys- 
tery is  gathered  about  our  little  life.  We  have  but 
small  control  over  things  around  us ;  are  limited  and 
hemmed  in  on  all  sides.  Our  schemes  fail.  Our  plans 
miscarry.  One  after  another,  our  lights  go  out.  Our 
realities  prove  dreams.  Our  hopes  waste  away.  We  are 
not  where  we  would  be,  nor  what  we  would  be.  After 
much  experience,  men  powerful  as  Napoleon,  victorious 
as  CsBsar,  confess,  what  simpler  men  knew  by  instinct 
long  before,  that  it  is  not  in  Man  that  walketh,  to  direct 


16  THE   RELIGIOUS   ELEMENT. 

his  steps.  We  find  our  cii'cumference  very  near  the 
centre,  everywhere.  An  exceedingly  short  radius  meas- 
ures all  our  strength.  We  can  know  little  of  material 
things  ;  nothing  but  their  phenomena.  As  the  circle 
of  our  knowledge  widens  its  ring,  we  feel  our  ignorance 
on  more  numerous  points,  and  the  Unknown  seems 
greater  than  before.  At  the  end  of  a  toilsome  life,  we 
confess,  with  a  great  man  of  modern  times,  that  we 
have  wandered  on  the  shore,  and  gathered  here  a  bright 
pebble,  and  there  a  shining  shell  —  but  an  ocean  of 
Truth,  boundless  and  unfathomed,  lies  before  us,  and 
all  unknown.  The  wisest  Ancient  knew  only  this,  that 
he  knew  nothing.  We  feel  an  irresistible  tendency  to 
refer  all  outward  things  and  ourselves  with  them,  to  a 
Power  beyond  us,  sublime  and  mysterious,  which  we 
cannot  measure,  nor  even  comprehend.  We  are  filled 
with  reverence  at  the  thought  of  this  power,  Outward 
matters  give  us  the  occasion  which  awakens  conscious- 
ness, and  spontaneous  nature  leads  us  to  something 
higher  than  ourselves,  and  greater  than  all  the  eyes  be- 
hold. We  are  bowed  down  at  the  thought.  Thus  the 
sentiment  of  something  superhuman,  comes  natural  as 
breath.  This  primitive  spiritual  sensation  comes  over 
the  soul,  when  a  sudden  calamity  throws  us  from  our 
habitual  state ;  when  joy  fills  our  cup  to  its  brim  ;  at 
"  a  wedding  or  a  funeral,  a  mourning  or  a  festival ; " 
when  we  stand  beside  a  great  work  of  Nature,  a  moun- 
tain, a  waterfall ;  when  the  twilight  gloom  of  a  prim- 
itive forest  sends  awe  into  the  heart ;  when  we  sit  alone 
with  ourselves,  and  turn  in  the  eye,  and  ask,  What  am 
I  ?  Whence  came  I  ?  Whither  shall  I  go  ?  There  is 
no  man  who  has  not  felt  this  sensation ;  this  mysterious 
sentiment  of  something  unbounded. 

Still  further,  we  arrive  at  the  same  result  from  a  phil- 


THE   RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT.  17 

osophical  analysis  of  Man's  nature.  We  set  aside  the 
Body  with  its  senses  as  the  man's  house,  having  doors 
and  windows  ;  we  examine  the  Understanding,  which 
is  his  handmaid ;  we  separate  the  Affections  which 
unite  man  with  man  ;  we  discover  the  Moral  Sense,  by 
which  we  can  discern  between  right  and  wrong  as  by 
the  body's  eye  between  black  and  white,  or  night  and 
day ;  and  behind  all  these,  and  deeper  down,  beneath 
all  the  shifting  phenomena  of  life,  we  discover  the  re- 
ligious ELEMENT  OF  MAN.  Looking  carefully  at  this  ele- 
ment ;  separating  this  as  a  cause  from  its  actions,  and 
these  from  their  effects ;  stripping  this  faculty  of  all  ac- 
cidental circumstances  peculiar  to  the  age,  nation,  sect, 
or  individual,  and  pursuing  a  sharp  and  final  analysis 
till  the  subject  and  predicate  can  no  longer  be  separated  ; 
we  find  as  the  ultimate  fact,  that  the  religious  element 
first  manifests  itself  in  our  consciousness  by  a  feeling 
of  need,  of  want ;  in  one  word  by  a  sense  of  depend- 
ence.^    This  primitive  feeling  does  not,  itself,  disclose 

^  The  religious  and  moral  elements  mutually  involve  each  other  in 
practice  ;  neither  can  attain  a  perfect  development  without  the  other ; 
but  they  are  yet  as  distinct  from  one  another  as  the  faculties  of  sight 
and  hearing,  or  memory  and  imagination.  Perhaps  all  will  not  agree 
with  that  analysis  which  makes  a  sense  of  dependence  the  ultimate  fact 
of  consciousness  in  the  case.  This  is  the  statement  of  Schleiermacher, 
not  to  mention  more  ancient  authorities.  See  his  Christhche  Glaube 
nach  der  Grundsatzen  der  ev.  Kirche.  B.  I.  §  4,  p.  15,  et  seq.  in  his 
Works ;  1  Abt.  B.  III. ;  Berlin,  1835.  Of  course  a  sense  of  infinite 
as  well  as  finite  dependence  is  intended.  Others  may  call  it  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  Infinite ;  I  contend  more  for  the  fact  of  a  religious 
element  in  man  than  for  the  above  analysis  of  that  element.  This 
theory  has  been  assailed  by  several  philosophers,  amongst  others  by 
Hegel.  See  his  Philosophic  der  Rehgion,  2d  improved  edition,  B.  I. 
p.  87,  et  seq.,  in  B.  XI.  of  his  works ;  Berlin,  1840,  B.  XVII.  p.  279, 
et  seq.,  Rosenkrantz,  Leben  Kegels  ;  Berlin,  1844,  p.  341,  et  seq.  See 
also  Bretschneider,  Handbuch  der  Dogmatik  ;   Leip.  1838,  Vol.  I., 

2* 


18  THE   RELIGIOUS   ELEMENT. 

the  character,  and  still  less  the  nature  and  essence  of 
the  Object  on  which  it  depends;  no  more  than  the 
senses  disclose  the  nature  of  their  objects  ;  no  more 
than  the  eye  or  ear  discovers  the  essence  of  light  or 
sound.  Like  them,  it  acts  spontaneous  and  uncon- 
sciously, soon  as  the  outward  occasion  offers,  with  no 
effort  of  will,  forethought,  or  making  up  the  mind. 

Thus,  then,  it  appears  that  induction  from  notorious 
facts ;  consciousness  spontaneously  active,  and  a  philo- 
sophical analysis  of  our  nature,  all  lead  equally  to  some 
religious  element  or  principle  as  an  essential  part  of 
Man's  constitution.  Now  when  it  is  stated  thus  na- 
kedly and  abstractly,  that  Man  has  in  his  nature  a  per- 
manent religious  element,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  on  what 
grounds  this  primary  faculty  can  be  denied  by  any 
thinking  man,  who  will  notice  Ihe  religious  phenomena 
in  history,  trust  his  own  consciousness,  or  examine,  and 
analyze  the  combined  elements  of  his  own  being.  It 
is  true,  men  do  not  often  say  to  themselves,  "  Go  to 
now.  Lo,  I  have  a  religious  element  in  the  bottom  of 
my  heart."  But  neither  do  they  often  say,  "  Behold,  I 
have  hands  and  feet,  and  am  the  same  being  that  I  was 
last  night  or  forty  years  ago."  In  a  natural  and  healthy 
state  of  mind,  men  rarely  speak  or  think  of  what  is  felt 
unconsciously  to  be  most  true,  and  the  basis  of  all  spir- 
itual action.  It  is,  indeed,  most  abundantly  established, 
hat  there  is  a  religious  element  in  Man. 

§  12,  6.    See  Studien  und  Kritiken,  fiir  Oct.  1846,  p.  845,  et  seq.  for 
a  defence  of  the  opinion  of  Sclileiermacher. 


CHAPTER    II. 

OP   THE   SENTIMENT,   IDEA,   AND    CONCEPTION   OF   GOD. 

Now  the  existence  of  this  religious  element,  our  expe- 
rience of  this  sense  of  dependence,  this  sentiment  of 
something  without  bounds,  is  itself  a  proof  by  implica- 
tion of  the  existence  of  its  object,  —  something  on  which 
dependence  rests.  A  belief  in  this  relation  between 
the  feeling  in  us  and  its  object  independent  of  us,  comes 
unavoidably  from  the  laws  of  Man's  nature;  there  is 
nothing  of  which  we  can  be  more  certain.^  A  natural 
want  in  Man's  constitution  implies  satisfaction  in  some 
quarter,  just  as  the  faculty  of  seeing  implies  something 
to  correspond  to  this  faculty,  namely,  objects  to  be  seen, 
and  a  medium  of  light  to  see  by.  As  the  tendency  to 
love  implies  something  lovely  for  its  object,  so  the  relig- 
ious consciousness  implies  its  object.  If  it  is  regarded 
as  a  sense  of  absolute  dependence,  it  implies  the  Abso- 

^  The  truth  of  the  human  facuhies  must  be  assumed  in  all  argu- 
ments, and  if  this  be  admitted  we  have  then  the  same  evidence  for 
;plritual  facts  as  for  the  maxims  or  the  demonstrations  of  Geometry. 
On  this  point  see  some  good  remarks  in  Cudworth's  Intellectual 
System ;  Andover,  1838,  2  vols.  8vo.  Vol.  11.  p.  135,  et  seq.  If  any 
one  denies  the  trustwortliiness  of  the  human  faculties,  there  can  be 
no  argument  with  him  ;  the  axioms  of  morals  and  of  mathematics  are 
alike  nonsense  to  such  a  reasoner.  Demonstration  presupposes  some- 
thing so  certain  it  requires  no  demonstrating.  So  Reasoning  presup- 
poses the  trustworthiness  of  Reason. 

(19) 


20  IDEA   OF   GOD. 

lute  on  which  this  dependence  rests,  independent  of 
ourselves. 

Spiritual,  like  bodily  faculties,  act  jointly  and  not  one 
at  a  time,  and  when  the  occasion  is  given  from  with- 
out us,  the  Reason,  spontaneously,  independent  of  our 
forethought  and  volition,  acting  by  its  own  laws,  gives 
us,  by  intuition,  an  idea  of  that  on  which  we  depend. 
To  this  idea  we  give  the  name  of  God  or  Gods,  as  it 
is  represented  by  one  or  several  separate  conceptions. 
Thus  the  existence  of  God  is  implied  by  the  natural 
sense  of  dependence  ;  implied  in  the  religious  element 
itself;  it  is  expressed  by  the  spontaneous  intuition  of 
Reason. 

Now  men  come  to  this  Idea  early.  It  is  the  logical 
condition  of  all  other  ideas  ;  without  this  as  an  element 
of  our  consciousness,  or  lying  latent,  as  it  were,  and 
unrecognized  in  us,  we  could  have  do  ideas  at  all.  The 
senses  reveal  to  us  something  external  to  the  body,  and 
independent  thereof,  on  which  it  depends ;  they  tell  not 
what  it  is.  Consciousness  reveals  something  in  like 
manner,  not  the  human  spirit,  in  me,  but  its  absolute 
ground,  on  which  the  spirit  depends.^  Outward  cir- 
cumstances furnish  the  occasion  by  which  we  approach 
and  discover  the  Idea  of  God ;  but  they  do  not  furnish 
the  Idea  itself.  That  is  a  fact  given  by  the  nature  of 
Man.  Hence  some  philosophers  have  called  it  an  in- 
nate idea;  others  a  reminiscence  of  what  the  spirit 
knew  in  a  higher  state  of  life  before  it  took  the  body. 
Both  opinions  may  be  regarded  as  rhetorical  statements 
of  the  truth  that  the  Idea  of  God  is  a  fact  given  by 
Man's  nature,  and  not  an  invention  or  device  of  ours. 

^  I  use  the  word  Spirit  to  denote  all  the  faculties  not  material  —  as 
distinguished  from  Body. 


IDEA   OF   GOD.  21 

The  belief  in  God's  existence  therefore  is  natural,  not 
against  nature.  It  comes  unavoidably  from  the  le- 
gitimate action  of  the  intellectual  and  the  religious 
faculties,  just  as  the  belief  in  light  comes  from  using 
the  eyes,  and  belief  in  our  existence  from  mere  existing. 
The  knowledge  of  God's  existence,  therefore,  may  be 
called  in  the  language  of  Philosophy,  an  INTUITION  OF 
Reason  ;  or  in  the  mythological  language  of  the  elder 
Theology ,1  a  Revelation  from  God. 

If  the  above  statement  be  correct,  then  our  belief  in 
God's  existence  does  not  depend  on  the  a  posteriori  ar- 
gument, on  considerations  drawn  from  the  order,  fitness, 
and  beauty  discovered  by  observations  made  in  the 
material  world ;  nor  yet  on  the  a  priori  argument,  on 
considerations  drawn  from  the  eternal  nature  of  things, 
and  observations  made  in  the  spiritual  world.  It  de- 
pends primarily  on  no  argument  whatever  ;  not  on  rea- 
soning- but  Reason.  The  fact  is  given  outright,  as  it 
were,  and  comes  to  the  man,  as  soon  and  as  naturally, 


^  English  writers  have  rarely  attempted  to  account  phUosophically 
for  the  origin  of  tlie  Idea  of  God.  They  have  usually  assumed  this, 
and  then  defended  it  by  the  various  arguments.  See  Locke's  Essay 
on  the  Human  Understanding,  Book  I.  eh.  TV. ;  and  Cousin's  Psy- 
chology, Henry's  Translation  ;  Hartford,  1834,  p.  46,  et  seq.,  and  181 
et  seq.  See  some  valuable  remarks  in  Cudworth's  Intellectual  Sys- 
tem, &c.  Vol.  H.  p.  143,  et  seq.  See  the  Christian  Examiner  for  Jan- 
uary, 1840,  p.  309,  et  seq.,  and  the  works  there  cited.  See  also  the 
article  of  President  Hopkins  in  American  Quarterly  Observer,  No. 
H. ;  Boston,  1833,  and  Ripley's  Philosophical  Miscellanies,  Vol.  I.  p. 
40,  et  seq.  and  203,  et  seq.  Some  valuable  thoughts  on  this  subject 
may  also  be  found  in  De  Wette,  Das  Wesen  des  Christlichen  Glau- . 
bens,  vom  Standpunkte  des  Glaubens  dargestellt ;  Basel,  1846,  §  4,  et 
ant.  See  too  Wirth,  die  speculative  Idee  Gottes,  Stuttgart ;  1845, 
and  Sengler,  die  Idee  Gottes,  Heidelberg ;  1845. 


22  IDEA   OF   GOD. 

as  the  consciousness  of  his  own  existence,  and  is  indeed 
logically  inseparable  from  it,  for  we  cannot  be  conscious 
of  ourselves  except  as  depeyident  beings.^ 

This  intuitive  perception  of  God  is  afterwards  funda- 
mentally and  logically  established  by  the  a  priori  argu- 
ment, and  beautifully  confirmed  by  the  a  posteriori  ar- 
gument ;  but  we  are  not  left  without  the  Idea  of  God 
till  we  become  metaphysicians  and  naturalists  and  so 
can  discover  it  by  much  thinking.  It  comes  spontane- 
ously, by  a  law,  of  whose  action  we  are,  at  first,  not 
conscious.  The  belief  always  precedes  the  proof,  intu- 
/vition  giving  the  thing  to  be  reasoned  about.  Unless 
this  intuitive  function  be  performed,  it  is  not  possible 
to  attain  a  knowledge  of  God.  For  all  arguments  to 
that  end  must  be  addressed  to  a  faculty  which  cannot 
originate  the  Idea  of  God,  but  only  confirm  it  when 
given  from  some  other  quarter.  Any  argument  is  vain 
when  the  logical  condition  of  all  argument  has  not  been 
complied  with.^  If  the  reasoner,  as  Dr.  Clarke  has 
done,^  presuppose  that  his  opponent  has  "  no  transcend- 

^  This  doctrine  seems  to  be  implied  in  the  writings  of  the  Alexan- 
drian fathers. 

^  Kant  has  abundantly  shown  the  insufficiency  of  all  the  philosophi- 
cal arguments  for  the  existence  of  God,  the  physico-theological,  the 
cosmolofjical,  and  the  ontolojncal.  See  the  Kritik  der  reinen  Ver- 
nunft,  7th  edition,  p.  444,  et  seq.  But  the  fact  of  the  Idea  given  in 
man's  nature  cannot  be  got  rid  of  It  is  not  a  Httle  curious  that  none 
of  the  Christian  writers  seems  to  have  attempted  an  ontological  proof 
of  the  existence  of  God  till  the  eleventh  century,  when  Anselm  led 
the  way.  See  Bouchitte  Histoire  des  Preuves  de  1'  Existence  de  Dieu 
depuis  les  Temps  les  plus  recules  jusqu'au  Monologium  d'Anselme,  in 
the  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Sciences  Morales,  &c.  Tom,  I.  Savants 
Etrangeres ;  Paris,  1841,  p.  395,  et  seq.,  and  his  second  Memoire,  p. 
461,  et  seq.,  which  brings  the  history  down  to  that  time.  Tom.  II.  p. 
59,  et  seq.  77  et  seq. 

*  In  his  Demonstration  of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of  God. 


IDEA    OF    GOD.  23 

ent  idea  of  God,"  all  his  reasoning  could  never  produce 
it,  howsoever  capable  of  confirming  and  legitimating 
that  idea  if  already  existing  in  the  consciousness.  As 
we  may  speak  of  sights  to  the  blind,  and  sounds  to  the 
deaf,  and  convince  them  that  things  called  sights  and 
sounds  actually  exist,  but  can  furnish  no  Idea  of  those 
things  when  there  is  no  corresponding  sensation,  so  we 
may  convince  a  man's  understanding  of  the  soundness 
of  our  argumentation,  but  yet  give  him  no  Idea  of  God 
unless  he  have  previously  an  intuitive  sense  thereof. 
Without  the  intuitive  perception,  the  metaphysical  ar- 
gument gives  us  only  an  idea  of  abstract  Power  and 
Wisdom ;  the  argument  from  design  gives  only  a  lim- 
ited and  imperfect  Cause  for  the  limited  and  imperfect 
effects.     Neither  reveals  to  us  the  Infinite  God. 

The  Idea  of  God  then  transcends  aU  possible  exter- 
nal experience  and  is  given  by  intuition,  or  natural  rev- 
elation, which  comes  of  the  joint  and  spontaneous  ac- 
tion of  reason  and  the  religious  element.^  Now  theo- 
retically this  Idea  involves  no  contradiction  and  is 
perfect :  that  is,  when  the  proper  conditions  are  com- 
plied with,  and  nothing  disturbs  the  free  action  of  the 
spirit,  we  receive  the  Idea  of  a  Being,  infinite  in  Power, 
Wisdom,  and  Goodness ;  that  is  infinite,  or  perfect,  in 
all  possible  relations.^  But  practically ,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  these  conditions  are  not  observed  ;  men  at- 
tempt to  form  a  complex  and  definite  conception  of  God. 
The  primitive  Idea,  eternal  in  Man,  is  lost  sight  of. 
The  conception  of  God,  as  men  express  it  in  their  lan- 

^  The  Idea  of  God,  like  that  of  Liberty  and  Immortality,  may  be 
called  <i  judgment  a  priori^  and  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  tran- 
scends all  objective  experience,  as  it  is  logically  anterior  to  it. 

2  See  Cudworth's  Intellectual  System,  Chap.  IV.  §  8-10,  Vol.  I 
p.  213,  et  seq. 


24  CONCEPTION    OF   GOD. 

guage,  is  always  imperfect ;  sometimes  self-coiitradic 
tory  and  impossible.  Human  actions^  human  thoughts^ 
human  feelings,  yes,  human  passions  and  all  the  limi- 
tations of  mortal  men,  are  collected  about  the  Idea  of 
God.  Its  primitive  simplicity  and  beauty  are  lost.  It 
becomes  self-destructive ;  and  the  conception  of  God, 
as  many  minds  set  it  forth,  like  that  of  a  Griffin,  or 
Centaur,  or  "  men  whose  heads  do  grow  beneath  their 
shoulders,"  is  self-contradictory ;  the  notion  of  a  being 
who,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  could  not  exist. 
They  for  the  most  part  have  been  called  Atheists  who 
denied  the  popular  conception  of  God,  showed  its  in- 
consistency, and  proved  that  such  a  being  could  not  be.^ 

^  The  best  men  have  often  been  branded  as  Atheists.  The  follow- 
ing benefactors  of  the  world  have  borne  that  stigma :  Thales,  Anax- 
agoras,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Plato,  Aristotle,  Xenophanes,  and  both 
the  Zenos ;  Cicero,  Seneca,  Abelard,  Galileo,  Kepler,  Des  Cartes, 
Leibnitz,  Wolf,  Locke,  Cudworth,  Samuel  Clarke,  Jacob  Bohme  ; 
Kant,  and  Fichte,  and  Schelling,  and  Hegel,  are  still  under  the  ban. 
See  some  curious  details  of  this  subject  in  Reimmann's  Historia  Athe- 
ismi,  etc. ;  1725,  a  dull  book  but  profitable.  See  also  a  Dissertation 
by  Buchwaldius,  De  Controversus  recentioribus  de  Atheismo ;  Viteb. 
1716,  1  Vol.  quarto,  and  "  Historical  Sketch  of  Atheism,"  by  Dr. 
Pond,  in  American  Biblical  Repository,  for  Oct.  1839,  p.  320,  et 
seq. 

Posse vin,  in  his  Bibliotheca,  puts  Luther  and  Melanchthon  among 
the  Atheists.  Mersenne,  (in  his  Comment,  in  Geneseos,)  says,  that 
in  1622,  there  were  50,000  Atheists  in  Paris  alone,  often  a  dozen  in 
a  single  house.  Biographic  Universelle,  Tom.  XXVIU.  p.  390.  See 
some  curious  details  respecting  the  literary  treatment  of  the  subject 
in  J.  G.  Walch's  Philosophisches  Lexicon,  2d  ed. ;  Leip.  1733,  pp. 
134-146.  Dr.  Woods,  in  his  translation  of  Knapp's  Theology,  (New 
York,  1831,  2  vols.  8vo.,)  in  a  note  borrowed  from  Hahn's  Lehrbuch 
des  Christ.  Glaubens,  p.  175,  et  seq.,  places  D.R.  Priestley  among 
the  modern  Atheists,  where  also  he  puts  De  La  Mettrie,  Yon  Hol- 
bach,  (or  La-Grange,)  Helvetius,  Diderot,  and  d'Alembert.  Such 
catalogues  are  instructive.     But  see  Clarke's  Classification  of  Atheists 


CONCEPTION    OF    GOD.  25 

The  early  Christians  and  all  the  most  distinguished  and 
religious  philosophers  have  borne  that  name,  simply  be- 
cause they  were  too  far  before  men  for  their  sympathy, 
too  far  above  them  for  their  comprehension,  and  because, 
therefore,  their  Idea  of  God  was  sublimer  and  nearer  the 
truth  than  that  held  by  their  opponents. 

Now  the  conception  we  form  of  God,  under  the  most 
perfect  cu'cumstances,  must,  from  the  nature  of  things, 
fall  short  of  the  reality.  The  Finite  can  fornl  no  ade- 
quate conception  or  imagination  of  the  Infinite.  All 
the  conceptions  of  the  human  mind  are  conceived  under 

at  the  beginning  of  the  discourse,  in  his  works,  Vol.  11.  p.  521,  et 
seq. 

The  charge  of  impiety  is  always  brought  against  such  as  diflfer  from 
the  pubKc  faith,  especially  if  they  rise  above  it.  Thus  Hicks  declared 
Tillotson  '^  the  gravest  Atheist  that  ever  was.*'  Discourse  on  Tillotson 
and  Burnet  in  Lechler,  Gesch.  Englischen  Deismus  ;  Stutgart,  1841, 
p.  150,  et  seq.  In  1697,  Peter  Browne,  for  a  similar  abuse  of  Toland, 
was  rewarded  with  the  office  of  a  Bishop.  —  Ih.  p.  195.  A  curious 
old  writer  says,  "  among  the  Grecians  of  old,  those  Secretaries  of  Na- 
ture, which  first  made  a  tender  of  the  natural  causes  of  lightnings  and 
tempests  to  the  rude  ears  of  men,  were  blasted  with  the  reproach  of 
Atheists,  and  fell  under  the  hatred  of  the  untutored  rabble,  because 
they  did  not,  like  them,  receive  every  extraordinary  in  nature  as  an 
immediate  expression  of  the  power  and  displeasure  of  the  Deity." 
Spencer,  Preface  to  his  Discourse  concerning  Prodigies ;  London, 
1665.  Diodorus  Siculus,  Lib.  1,  p.  75,  (ed.  Rhodoman,)  relates  an  in- 
structive case.  A  Roman  soldier,  in  Egypt,  accidentally  killed  a  cat  — 
killed  a  god,  for  the  cat  was  a  popular  object  of  worship.  The  people 
rose  upon  him,  and  nothing  could  save  him  from  a  violent  death  at  the 
hands  of  the  mob.  All  religious  persecutions,  if  it  be  allowed  to  com- 
pare the  little  with  the  great,  may  be  reduced  to  this  one  denomina- 
tion. The  heretic^  actually  or  by  implication,  killed  a  consecrated  cat^ 
and  the  Orthodox  would  fain  kill  him.  But  as  the  same  thing  is  not 
sacred  in  all  countries,  (for  even  asses  have  their  worshippers,)  the 
cat-kilLer,  though  an  abomination  in  Egypt,  would  be  a  great  saint  in 
some  lands  where  dogs  are  worshipped. 

3 


26  CONCEPTION    OF   GOD. 

the  limitation  of  Time  and  Space ;  of  dependence  on 
a  cause  exterior  to  itself ;  while  the  Infinite  is  necessa- 
rily free  from  these  limitations.  A  man  can  compre- 
hend no  form  of  being  but  his  own  finite  form,  which 
answers  to  the  Supreme  Being  even  less  than  a  grain 
of  dust  to  the  world  itself.  There  is  no  conceivable 
ratio  between  Finite  and  Infinite.^  Our  human  per- 
sonality ^  gives  a  false  modification  to  all  our  concep- 
tions of  the  Infinite.  But  if,  not  resting  in  a  merely 
sentimental  consciousness  of  God,  which  is  vague,  and 
alone  leads  rather  to  pantheistic  mysticism  than  to  a 
reasonable  faith,  we  take  the  fact  given  in  our  nature  — 
the  primitive  Idea  of  God,  as  a  Being  of  infinite  Power, 
Wisdom,  and  Goodness  involves  no  contradiction.  This 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  faithful  expression  of  the  Idea  that 
words  can  convey.  This  language  does  not  define  the 
nature  of  God,  but  distinguishes  our  Idea  of  him,  from 
all  other  ideas  and  conceptions  whatever.  Some  great 
religious  souls  have  been  content  with  this  native  Idea ; 

^  M.  Cousin  thinks  God  is  comprehensible  by  the  human  spirit,  and 
even  attempts  to  construct  the  "  intellectual  existence  "  of  God.  Cre- 
ation he  makes  the  easiest  tiling  in  the  world  to  conceive  of !  See  his 
Introduction  to  the  History  of  Philosophy,  Linberg's  Translation,  p. 
132-143.  See  also  Ripley,  1.  c.  Vol.  I.  p.  271,  et  seq.  One  would 
naturally  think  human  presumption  could  go  no  further;  but  this 
pleasing  illusion  is  dispelled  by  the  perusal  of  some  of  his  opponents. 

^  Z  enophanes  saw  further  into  the  secret  than  some  others,  when 
he  said,  that  if  Horses  or  Lions  had  hands  and  were  to  represent  each 
liis  Deity,  it  Avould  be  a  Horse  or  a  Lion,  for  these  animals  would  im- 
pose their  limitations  on  the  Godhead  just  as  man  has  done.  See  the 
passage  in  Eusebius,  Prasp.  Ev.  XIH.  13,  and  Clemens  Alex.  Strom. 
V.  14. 

The  late  excellent  Dr.  Arnold  goes  to  the  other  extreme  and  says, 
"  It  is  only  of  God  in  Christ  that  I  can,  in  my  present  state  of  being, 
conceive  any  thing  at  all.  (!)  Life,  etc. ;  New  York,  1845,  Chap.  VII. 
Letter  61,  p.  212. 


CONCEPTION '  OF    GOD.  27 

have  found  it  satisfactory  both  to  Faith  and  Reason, 
and  confessed  with  the  ancients,  that  no  man  by  search- 
ing could  perfectly  find  out  God.  Others  project  their 
own  limitations  upon  their  conception  of  God,  making 
him  to  appear  such  an  one  as  themselves  ;  thus  they 
reverse  the  saying  of  Scripture,  and  creating  a  phantom 
in  their  own  image,  call  it  God.  Thus  while  the  Idea 
of  God,  as  a  fact  given  in  man's  nature,  and  affording 
a  consistent  representation  of  its  Object,  is  permanent 
and  alike  in  all ;  while  a  merely  sentimental  conscious- 
ness or  feeling  of  God,  though  vague  and  mysterious, 
is  always  the  same  in  itself,  the  popular  Conception  of 
God  is  of  the  m-ost  various  and  evanescent  character, 
and  is  not  the  same  in  any  two  ages  or  men.  The 
Idea  is  the  substance  ;  the  conception  a  transient  phe- 
nomenon, which  at  best  only  imperfectly  represents  the 
substance.  To  possess  the  Idea  of  God,  though  latent 
in  us,  is  unavoidable  ;  to  feel  its  comfort  is  natural ;  to 
dwell  in  the  Sentiment  of  God  is  delightful ;  but  to 
frame  an  adequate  Conception  of  Deity,  and  set  this 
forth  in  words,  is  not  only  above  human  capability,  but 
impossible  in  the  nature  of  things.  The  abyss  of  God, 
is  not  to  be  fathomed  save  by  Him  who  is  All-in-all.^ 

^  See  Parker's  Sermons  of  Theism,  Atheism,  and  the  Popular  The- 
ology ;  Boston,  1853,  Serm.  I. 


CHAPTER    III. 

POWER   OF   THE    RELIGIOUS   ELEMENT. 

Now  this  inborn  religious  Faculty  is  the  basis  and 
cause  of  all  Religion.  Without  this  internal  religious 
element,  either  Man  could  not  have  any  religious  no- 
tions, nor  become  religious  at  all,  or  else  religion  would 
be  something  foreign  to  his  nature,  which  he  might  yet 
be  taught  mechanically  from  without,  as  bears  are 
taught  to  dance,  and  parrots  to  talk  ;  but  which,  like  this 
acquired  and  unnatural  accomplishment  of  the  beast 
and  the  bird,  would  divert  him  from  his  true  nature  and 
perfection,  rendering  him  a  monster,  but  less  of  a  man 
than  he  would  be  without  the  superfetation  of  this  Re- 
ligion upon  him.  Without  a  moral  faculty,  we  could 
have  no  duties  in  respect  to  men  ;  without  a  religious 
faculty,  no  duties  in  respect  of  God.  The  foundation 
of  each  is  in  Man,  not  out  of  him.  If  man  have  not 
a  religious  element  in  his  nature,  miraculous  or  other 
"  revelations "  can  no  more  render  him  religious  than 
fragments  of  sermons  and  leaves  of  the  Bible  can  make 
a  Lamb  religious  when  mixed  and  eaten  with  its  daily 
food.  The  Law,  the  Duty,  and  the  Destiny  of  Man,  as 
of  all  God's  creatures,  are  writ  in  himself,  and  by  the 
Almighty's  hand.^    The  religious  element  existing  within 

^  See  the  treatise  of  Cicero  on  the  foundation  of  duties  in  the  es- 
say De  Legibus,  Lib.  I.     It  may  surprise  some  men  that  a  Pagan 
(28) 


THE    RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT.  29 

US,  and  this  alone,  renders  Religion  the  duty,  the  priv- 
ilege, and  the  welfare  of  mankind.  Thus  Religion  is 
not  a  superinduction  upon  the  race,  as  some  would 
make  it  appear ;  not  an  after-thought  of  God  interpo- 
lated in  human  affairs,  when  the  work  was  otherwise 
complete  ;  but  it  is  an  original  necessity  of  our  nature ; 
the  religious  element  is  deep  and  essentially  laid  in  the 
very  constitution  of  Man. 

I.  Now,  this  religious  element  is  universal.  This  may 
be  proved  in  several  ways.  Whatever  exists  in  the 
fundamental  nature  of  one  man,  exists  likewise  in  all 
men,  though  in  different  degrees  and  variously  modified 
by  different  circumstances.  Human  nature  is  the  same 
in  the  men  of  all  races,  ages,  and  countries.  Man  re- 
mains always  identical,  only  the  differing  circumstances 
of  climate,  condition,  culture,  race,  nation,  and  individ- 
ual, modify  the  manifestations  of  what  is  at  bottom  the 
same.  Races,  ages,  nations,  and  individuals,  differ  only 
in  the  various  degrees  they  possess  of  particular  facul- 
ties, and  in  the  development,  or  the  neglect  of  these  fac- 
ulties. When,  therefore,  it  is  shown  that  the  religious 
sentiment  exists  as  a  natural  principle  in  any  one  man, 
its  existence  in  all  other  men,  that  are,  were,  or  shall 
be,  follows  unavoidably  from  the  unity  of  human  na- 
ture. 

Again,  the  universality  of  the  religious  element  is 
confirmed   by  historical   arguments,  which   also   have 

should  come  at  the  truth  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  moral  obliga- 
tion, while  so  many  Christian  moralists  have  shot  wide  of  the  mark. 
See  the  discussion  of  the  same  subject,  and  a  very  different  conclu- 
sion, in  Paley's  Moral  Philosophy,  and  Dymond's  Essays.  See  the 
heathen  witnesses  collected  in  Taylor,  Elements  of  the  Civil  Law ; 
Lend.  1786,  p.  100,  et  seq. 

3* 


30  THE   EELIGIOUS   ELEMENT 

some  force.  We  discover  religious  phenomena  in  all 
lands,  wherever  Man  has  advanced -^above  the  primitive 
condition  of  iTiere  animal  wildness.  Of  com'se  there 
must  have  been  a  period  in  his  development  when 
the  religious  faculties  had  not  come  to  conscious  activ- 
ity :  but  after  that  state  of  spiritual  infancy  is  passed 
by,  religious  emotions  appear  in  the  rudest,  and  most 
civihzed  state ;  among  the  cannibals  of  New  Zealand, 
and  the  refined  voluptuaries  of  old  Babylon ;  in  the 
Esquimaux  fisherman  and  the  Parisian  philosopher. 
The  subsequent  history  of  men  shows  no  period  in 
which  these  phenomena  do  not  appear ;  Man  worships, 
feels  dependence,  and  accountability,  religious  fear  or 
hope,  and  give  signs  of  these  spiritual  emotions  all  the 
world  over.  No  nation  with  fire  and  garments  has  been 
found  so  savage  that  they  have  not  attained  this ; 
none  so  refined  as  to  outgrow  it.  The  widest  observa- 
tion, therefore,  as  well  as  a  philosophical  deduction 
from  the  nature  of  Man,  warrants  the  conclusion  that 
this  sentiment  is  universal.^ 

But  at  first  glance  there  are  some  apparent  excep- 
tions to  this  rule.  A  few  persons  from  time  to  time 
arise  and  claim  the  name  of  Atheist.  But  even  these 
admit  they  feel  this  religious  tendency ;  they  acknowl- 
edge a  sense  of  dependence,  which  they  refer,  not  to 
the  sound  action  of  a  natural  element  in  their  constitu- 
tion, but  to  a  disease  thereof,  to  the  influence  of  cul- 
ture, or  the  instruction  of  their  nurses,  and  count  it  an 

^  Empirical  observation  alone  would  not  teach  the  universality  of 
this  element,  unless  it  were  detected  in  each  man,  for  a  generalization 
can  never  go  beyond  the  facts  it  embraces ;  but  observation,  so  far  as 
it  goes,  confirms  the  abstract  conclusion  which  we  reach  independent 
of  observation. 


UNIVERSAL   IN   MAN.  31 

obstinate  disease  of  their  mind,  or  else  a  prejudice, 
early  imbibed  and  not  easily  removed.^  Even  if  some 
one  could  be  found  who  denied  that  he  ever  felt  any 
religious  emotion  whatever,  however  feebly  —  this  would 
prove  nothing  against  the  universality  of  its  existence, 
and  no  more  against  the  general  rule  of  its  manifesta- 
tion, than  the  rare  fact  of  a  child  born  with  a  single 
arm  proves  against  the  general  rule,  that  Man  by  nature 
has  two  arms.^ 

Again,  travellers  tell  us  some  nations  with  considera- 
ble civilization,  have  no  God,  no  priests,  no  worship, 
and  therefore  give  no  sign  of  the  existence  of  the  relig- 
ious element  in  them.  Admitting  they  state  a  fact,  we 
are  not  to  conclude  the  religious  element  is  wanting  in 
the  savages  ;  only  that  they,  like  infants,  have  not  at- 
tained the  proper  stage,  when  we  could  discover  signs 
of  its  action.     But  these  travellers  are  often  mistaken.^ 

^  See  Hume's  Natural  History  of  Religion,  Introduction.     Essays ;    t- 
Lond.  1822,  Vol.  H.  p.  379. 

^  One  of  the  most  remarkable  Atheists  of  the  present  day  is  M. 
Comte,  author  of  the  valuable  and  sometimes  profound  work  Cours 
de  Phllosophie  positive;  Paris,  1830-42,  6  vols.  8vo.  He  glories  in 
the  name,  but  in  many  places  gives  evidence  of  the  religious  element 
existing  in  him,  in  no  small  power.  See  Cudworth's  Intellectual  Sys- 
tem, etc.,  Ch.  TV.  §  1-5.  Some  one  says  "  No  man  is  a  consistent 
Atheist  —  if  such  be  possible  —  who  admits  the  existence  of  any  gen- 
eral law." 

^  It  seems  surprising  that  so  acute  a  philosopher  as  Locke  (Essays, 
B.  I.  ch.  4,  §  8)  should  prove  a  negative  hj  hearsay^  and  assert  on 
such  evidence  as  Rhoe,  Jo.  de  Lery,  Martinlere,  Torry,  Ovington,  etc., 
that  there  were  "  whole  nations  amongst  whom  there  was  to  be  found 
no  notion  of  a  God,  no  religion."  See  the  able  remarks  of  his  fi'iend 
ShaftesDury  —  who  is  most  unrighteously  reckoned  a  speculative  ene- 
my to  rehgion  —  against  this  opinion,  in  his  Characteristics  ;  Lond. 
1758,  Vol.  IV.  p.  81,  et  seq.  8th  Letter  to  a  Student,  etc.  Steller  de- 
clares the  Kamschatkans  have  no  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being,  yet  gives 


32  THE   EEUfilOT^   ELEMENT 

T^w  obserwatioiis  haiTe,  in  such  cases,  been  snpeiiacial, 
mde  ^with  but  a  sliglit  knowiedg^  of  the  nianaers  and 
CT^jpft^  of  llie  mlioD  they  tieal.  And,  beddes,  their 
pRJodBee  bfinded  iiieir  eyes.  They  kK^oed  for  a  regu- 
lar ^('ciisfaips  doctiiiies  of  ndigioii.  priests,  temples,  ima- 
.^es,  iomis,  mud  oaemoiiies.  Bnt  there  is  one  siage  of 
lel^ioas  eoiedoitsBess  in  w^hich  nooe  oi  these  dgns  ap- 
pear ;  MJMJ  yd  the  leli^oas  dement  is  at  its  ^(^YHk.  The 
tiaTdieis,  not  fi^K-g  the  nsoal  signs  of  waishq>,  de- 
waed  the  ex^tenee  of  ^RMship  itself  aind  eTen  of  any 
rdj^kms  ooBscioiisness  in  the  nation.  But  if  tfaey  had 
iomid  a  pec^ple  ignorant  c^  oookeiy  and  ^enthoot  the 
inf^AiiM'Mij;.  of  that  art,  it  woold  be  quite  as  wise  to 
eontlnde  fiom  this  negative  testimony,  that  the  nation 
ne^vr  ate  nor  dnnk.    On  snch  evidence,  the  eaody  Chris- 


<if  iibear  iBjihakgT  I  See  Fnsc^ndy  Beaeaivkes  IbId  the 
T^^x^^^kmj €£  JbM&3^'^  TjomL  ISAL,  et  seqj.  YoL  IV.  p499L 
SooitriB^ati^ai^Eiiter  a«  llr.  ^Smkm  «ystfai*"i»lte/iiyfiir  nsSy- 

■M  '^sSm  Grceis  mad  Rmtaau  i^en  mmg  mm  luiPf  ifMiw  ^CMLT  £vi- 
1j_lll  uf  iliii  riMimim  in  mfiftir  V^j-f'^:  BoetaM,  1837,  eft  seq.  ToL 

IILp.l3u   Tifm  I  I  m^\  ilh t  tfcr  i  ■iiiiiiB  i  il^  — »-^-^ ^ -■ 

lesB  esaeA  ■wiateas  "wio  deay  dot  ohIjim  :iih  igrr  kaive  aa j  refigiaou 
SeecsaB^ks  of  die  ast  eoBeeledjAr  a  difewi  prnpoce,  im  Moa- 
lM9UgLQB^»lP^«eR9B  «f  LMgnge^MEd.;  £fidbn^  1774, 
TdLLbooklLcia^nLifEkaFe  see  awci  aMre  OEaiEnoe  to  «&Hr  Iftof 
7K»  «f  ■»■  cntf  «aA  iid^    Sohk  vriieEB  aeeat  Id  dnk  Obnfltiadtf 

%^  ^iK^  iseR«  afUe&attK,  attaia  a  faMivled^  oferea 
^iiejMiylLittaiAMrtt  qbwwB  idi^wB  toAs.    Soe  fiiofidi  booki 

lan^  he^  I^BBJ  am.  dm  idea,  -wiiA  »  yet  die  fltaplerf  ■  iwj  jwrpwinw. 
SeeqadfeliE^dgnaaMMe  in  wimI  n  rf M. Coarte  dbi aya,  ToL  T. 


p.  S2-  et  dig- 
its mot  IsB^aiMe  de  v^ele  aadKn  cfdie  dnoe  vere  aecued 
flf  J^i^m,  and  daft  tjr  mibess  so  nespcrtaWe  as  Le  Fleve  de  Saiate 
IfaBK,  and  Le  Fere  liongofaavS.    See.  vh»  ^nl,  Icibnlz'fi 
tf  dbe  cbai^  Opp.  cd.  DMeaa,  TflL  IT.  Fat  1,  p.  17«,  ct  scq. 


rSTTET 


■J*. 


33 


tians  \rere  convicted  of  A". 
snbseqaezitlT  the  Pasans  bv  rh 

There  is  still  one  otL 
to  the  mJe.     Some  peis* 
eariy  c4iildhood  w^ere  -^^ 

grew  np  towards  the         j-    , ^^_ 

state,    having    bo    contact   with   their 
These  give  no  sa^B  oi  any  retigioas 
nature.     Bat  other  mnveisal  £i£iiltie- 
tendency  to  langh.  and  to  speak  a  ; 
quite  as  little  sign  of  their  existeiie^.- 
nnfommate  persons  are  exposed  t'~    ' 
ence  of  life,  the  religioiis,  like  otL 
work.     Hence  we  mav  eooeiode  it      _ 


oy  the  Pagans,  anH 

Chri-dans.^ 

'  exceptioQ 


^  TUni^ow-.  w^  cxhss.  as  ftsfc  dedazed  the 
MO  r^^ina  or  kntyfaW  of  finiir  lirt:  hft  afita  ■  ■iilii  fwiMJwf  Igy  ife- 
fake.  See  Fiaad^s  L^ -r^  -  t3,eftsHsq.  See  afas  Gi^s  Let- 
tBB,€fc,«i  the  5^:r-_  A_  :-<£aBs;  Unr  Tadc,lSi],Td.L 

pL  15^.    Etcr  Mexsers.  Kn~  Fihti   der  SdE^OBOLp  ToL  L 

mF— Vrd,Lc.V  '  T  -^  -^faiiie  to  Ife £a^ 


the  5ta:eir^r: 
-  See  3 


-Te 

■      "  ■    IS  a 


'    et  seq. 


irry.  et  seq.  T 
CoL  Sietanan's  *: 


18^. 


34  THE   RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT 

mant  until  the  proper  conditions  of  its  development 
were  supplied. 

These  three  apparent  exceptions  serve  only  to  con- 
firm the  rule  that  the  religious  sentiment,  like  the  power 
of  attention,  thought,  and  love,  is  universal  in  the  race. 
Yet  it  is  plain  that  there  was  a  period  in  which  the 
primitive  wild  man,  without  language  or  self-conscious- 
ness, gave  no  sign  of  any  religious  faculty  at  all,  still 
the  original  element  lay  in  this  baby-man. 

However,  like  other  faculties  this  is  possessed  in 
different  degrees  by  different  races,  nations,  and  indi- 
viduals, and  at  particular  epochs  of  the  world^s  or  the 
individual's  history  acquires  a  predominance  it  has  not 
at  other  times.  It  seems  God  never  creates  two  races, 
nations,  or  men,  with  precisely  the  same  endowments. 
There  is  a  difference,  more  or  less  striking,  between  the 
intellectua],  aesthetic,  and  moral  development  of  two 
races,  or  nations,  or  even  between  two  men  of  the  same 
race  and  nation.  This  difference  seems  to  be  the  effect, 
not  merely  of  the  different  circumstances  whereto  they 
are  exposed,  but  also  of  the  different  endowments  with 
which  they  set  out.  If  we  watch  in  history  the  grad- 
ual development  and  evolution  of  the  human  race,  we 
see  that  one  nation  takes  the  lead  in  the  march  of  mind, 
pursues  science,  literature,  and  the  arts  ;  another  in  war, 
and  the  practical  business  of  political  thrift,  while  a 
third  nation  prominent  neither  for  science  nor  political 
skill,  takes  the  lead  in  Religion,  and  in  the  comparative 
strength  of  its  religious  consciousness  surpasses  both. 

Three  forms  of  monotheistic  Religion  have,  at  vari- 
ous times,  come  up  in  the  world's  history.  Two  of 
them  at  this  moment  perhaps  outnumber  the  votaries 
of  all  other  religions,  and  divide  between  them  the 
more  advanced  civilization  of  mankind.     These  three 


UNIVERSAL    IN    MAN.  35 

are  the  Mosaic,  the  Christian,  and  the  Mahometan  ;  all 
recognizing  the  unity  of  God,  the  religious  nature  of 
Man,  and  the  relation  between  God  and  Man.  All  of 
these,  surprising  as  it  is,  came  from  one  family  of  men, 
the  Shemitic,  who  spoke,  in  substance,  the  same  lan- 
guage ;  lived  in  the  same  country,  and  had  the  same 
customs  and  political  institutions.  Even  that  wide- 
spread and  more  monstrous  form  of  Religion,  which 
our  fathers  had  in  the  wilds  of  Europe,  betrays  its  like- 
ness to  this  Oriental  stock  ;  and  that  form,  still  earlier, 
which  dotted  Greece  all  over  with  its  temples,  filling 
the  isles  of  the  Mediterranean  with  its  solemn  and  mys- 
terious chant,  came  apparently  from  the  same  source.^ 
The  beautiful  spirit  of  the  Greek,  modified,  enlarged, 
and  embellished  what  oriental  piety  at  first  called  down 
from  the  Empyrean.  The  nations  now  at  the  head  of 
modern  civilization,  have  not  developed  independently 
their  power  of  creative  religious  genius,  so  to  say ;  for 
each  form  of  worship,  that  has  prevailed  with  them, 
was  originally  derived  from  some  other  race.  These 
nations  are  more  scientific  than  religious ;  reflective 
rather  than  spontaneous  ;  utilitarian  more  than  reveren- 
tial ;  and,  so  far  as  history  relates,  have  never  yet  cre- 
ated a  permanent  form  of  Religion  which  has  extended 
to  other  families  of  men.  Their  faith,  like  their  choicer 
fruits,  is  an  importation  from  abroad,  not  an  indigenous 
plant,  though  now  happily  naturalized,  and  rendered 
productive  in  their  soil.  Of  all  nations  hitherto  known, 
these  are  the  most  disposed  to  reflection,  literature,  sci- 
ence, and  the  practical  arts  ;  while  the  Shemitish  tribes 

^  This  Orientalism  of  tue  religious  opinions  among  the  Europeans 
has  led  to  some  very  absurd  conceits  ;  see  a  notorious  instance  in  Da- 
vie's Mythology  of  the  Druids.  See  also  La  Kehglon  des  Gaulois,  etc., 
par  le  R.  P.  Dom  [Jacques  Martin]  ;  Paris,  1727,  2  vols.  4to. 


36  THE   RELIGIOUS    ELEMENT 

in  their  early  age  were  above  all  others  religious,  and 
have  had  an  influence  in  religious  history  entirely  dis- 
proportionate to  their  numbers,  their  art,  their  science, 
or  their  laws.  Out  of  the  heart  of  this  ancient  family 
of  nations  flowed  forth  that  triple  stream  of  pious  life, 
which  even  now  gives  energy  to  the  pulsations  of  the 
world.  Egypt  and  Greece  have  stirred  the  intellect  of 
mankind ;  and  spoken  to  our  love  of  the  Grand,  the 
Beautiful,  the  True,  to  faculties  that  lie  deep  in  us. 
But  this  Oriental  people  have  touched  the  Soul  of  men, 
and  awakened  reverence  for  the  Good,  the  Holy,  the 
Altogether  Beautiful,  which  lies  in  the  profoundest  deep 
of  all.  The  religious  element  appears  least  conspic- 
uous, it  may  be,  in  some  nations  of  Australia  —  per- 
haps the  most  barbarous  of  men.  With  savages  in 
general  it  is  in  its  infancy,  like  all  the  nobler  attributes 
of  Man,^  but  as  they  develop  their  nature,  this  faculty 
becomes  more  and  more  apparent. 

II.  Again ;  this  element  is  indestructible  in  human 
nature.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  caprice  within,  nor 
external  circumstances,  war  or  peace,  freedom  or  slavery, 
ignorance  or  refinement,  wholly  to  abolish  or  destroy  it. 
Its  growth  may  be  retarded,  or  quickened ;  its  power 
misdirected,  or  suffered  to  flow  in  its  proper  channel. 
But  no  violence  from  within,  no  violence  from  without, 
can  ever  destroy  this  element.  It  were  as  easy  to  extir- 
pate hunger  and  thirst  from  the  sound  living  body,  as 
this  element  from  the  spirit.  It  may  sleep.  It  never 
dies.  Kept  down  by  external  force  to-day,  it  flames  up 
to  heaven  in  streams  of  light  to-morrow.     When  per- 

^  M.  Comte  takes  a  very  different  view  of  the  matter,  and  has  both 
fact  and  philosophy  against  hun. 


UNIVERSAL    IN   MAN*  37 

verted  from  its  natural  course,  it  writes,  in  devastation, 
its  chronicles  of  wrongs,  —  a  horrid  page  of  human  his- 
tory, which  proves  its  awful  power,  as  the  strength  of 
the  human  muscle  is  proved  by  the  distortions  of  the 
maniac.  Sensual  men,  who  hate  the  restraints  of  Re- 
ligion, who  know  nothing  of  its  encouragements,  strive 
to  pluck  up  by  the  roots  this  plant  which  God  has  set 
in  the  midst  of  the  garden.  But  there  it  stands  —  the 
tree  of  Knowledge,  the  tree  of  Life.  Even  such  as 
boast  the  name  of  Infidel  and  Atheist  find,  uncon- 
sciously, repose  in  its  wide  shadow,  and  refreshment  in 
its  fruit.  It  blesses  obedient  men.  He  who  violates 
the  divine  law,  and  thus  would  wring  this  feeling  from 
his  heart,  feels  it,  like  a  heated  iron,  in  the  mari\yw  of 
his  bones. 

III.  Still  further ;  this  religious  element  is  th«  strong- 
est and  deepest  in  human  nature.  It  depends  on  noth- 
ing outside,  conventional  or  artificial.  It  is  identical  in 
all  men ;  not  a  similar  thing  but  the  same.  Superfi- 
cially, man  differs  from  man,  in  the  less  and  more ;  but 
in  the  nature  of  the  primitive  religious  element  all 
agree,  as  in  whatever  is  deepest.  Out  of  the  profound- 
est  abyss  in  man  proceed  his  worship,  his  prayer,  his 
hymn  of  praise.  The  history  of  the  world  shows  us 
what  a  space  religion  fills.  She  is  the  mother  of  phi- 
losophy and  the  arts  ;  has  presided  over  the  greatest 
wars.  She  holds  now  all  nations  with  her  unseen  hand ; 
restrains  their  passions,  more  powerful  than  all  the 
cunning  statutes  of  the  lawgiver  ;  awakens  their  virtue  ; 
allays  their  sorrows  with  a  mild  comfort,  all  her  own  ; 
brightens  their  hopes  with  the  purple  ray  of  faith,  shed 
through  the  sombre  curtains  of  necessity. 

Religious  emotion  often  controls  society,  inspires  the 

4 


38  THE   RELIGIOUS   ELEMENT 

lawgiver  and  the  artist  —  is  the  deep-moving  principle 
it  has  called  forth  the  greatest  heroism  of  past  ages 
the  proudest  deeds  of  daring  and  endurance  have  been 
done  in  its  name.  Without  Religion,  all  the  sages  of 
a  kingdom  cannot  build  a  city  ;  but  with  it,  how  a  rude 
fanatic  sways  the  mass  of  men.  The  greatest  works 
of  human  art  have  risen  only  at  Religion's  call.  The 
marble  is  pliant  at  her  magic  touch,  and  seems  to 
breathe  a  pious  life.  The  chiselled  stone  is  instinct  with 
a  living  soul,  and  stands  there,  silent,  yet  full  of  hymns 
and  prayers  ;  an  embodied  aspiration,  a  thought  with 
wings  that  mock  at  space  and  time.  The  Temples  of 
the  East,  the  Cathedrals  of  the  West ;  Altar  and  Col- 
umn and  Statue  and  Image,  —  these  are  the  ti'ibute 
Art  pays  to  her.  Whence  did  Michael  Angelo,  Phidias 
Praxiteles,  and  all  the  mighty  sons  of  Ai't,  who  chron- 
icled their  awful  thoughts  in  stone,  shaping  brute  mat- 
ter to  a  divine  form,  building  up  the  Pyramid  and  Par- 
thenon, or  forcing  the  hard  elements  to  swell  into  the 
arch,  aspire  into  the  dome  or  the  fantastic  tower, — 
whence  did  they  draw  their  inspiration  ?  All  their 
greatest  wonders  are  wrought  in  Religion's  name.  In 
the  very  dawn  of  time,  Genius  looks  through  the  clouds 
and  lifts  up  his  voice  in  hymns  and  songs  and  stories  of 
the  Gods;  and  the  Angel  of  Music  carves  out  her  thanks- 
giving, her  penitence,  her  prayers  for  Man,  on  the  unseen 
air,  as  a  votive  gift  for  her.  Her  sweetest  note,  her  most 
majestic  chant,  she  breathes  only  at  Religion's  call. 
Thus  it  has  always  been.  A  thousand  men  will  readily 
become  celibate  monks  for  Religion.  Would  they  for 
Gold,  or  Ease,  or  Fame  ? 

The  greatest  sacrifices  ever  made  are  offered  in  the 
name  of  Religion.  For  this  a  man  will  forego  ease, 
peace,  friends,  society,  wife,  and  child,  all  that  mortal 


THE   STRONGEST   IN   MAN.  39 

flesh  holds  dearest ;  no  danger  is  too  dangerous  ;  no 
bu tiering  too  stern  to  bear,  if  Religion  say  the  word. 
Simeon  the  Stylite  will  stand  years  long  on  his  pillar's 
top  ;  the  devotee  of  Budha  tear  off  his  palpitating  flesh 
to  serve  his  God.  The  Pagan  idolater,  bowing  down 
to  a  false  image  of  stone,  renounces  his  possessions, 
submits  to  barbarous  and  cruel  rites,  shameful  mutila- 
tion of  his  limbs  ;  gives  the  first-born  of  his  body  for 
the  sin  of  his  soul ;  casts  his  own  person  to  destruction, 
because  he  dreams  Baal,  or  Saturn,  Jehovah,  or  Moloch, 
demands  the  sacrifice.  The  Christian  idolater,  doing 
equal  homage  to  a  lying  thought,  gives  up  Common 
Sense,  Reason,  Conscience,  Love  of  his  brother,  at  the 
same  fancied  mandate  ;  is  ready  to  credit  most  obvious 
absurdities  ;  accept  contradictions  ;  do  what  conflicts 
with  the  moral  sense  ;  believe  dogmas  that  make  life 
dark,  eternity  dreadful,  Man  a  worm,  and  God  a  tyrant ; 
dogmas  that  make  him  count  as  cursed  half  his  brother 
men,  because  told  such  is  his  duty,  in  the  name  of  Re- 
ligion. In  this  name  Thomas  More,  the  ablest  head  of 
his  times,  will  believe  a  bit  of  bread  becomes  the  Al- 
mighty God,  when  a  lewd  priest  but  mumbles  his  jug- 
gling Latin  and  lifts  up  his  hands.  In  our  day,  heads  as 
able  as  Thomas  More's  believe  doctrines  quite  as  absurd, 
because  taught  as  Religion  and  God's  command.  In  its 
behalf,  the  foolishest  teaching  beicomes  acceptable  ;  the 
foulest  doctrines,  the  grossest  conduct,  crimes  that  like 
the  fabled  banquet  of  Thyestes,  might  make  the  sun 
sicken  at  the  sight  and  turn  back  affrighted  in  his 
course,  —  these  things  are  counted  as  beautiful,  superior 
to  Reason,  acceptable  to  God.  The  wicked  man  may 
bless  his  brother  in  crime  ;  the  unrighteous  blast  the 
holy  with  his  curse,  and  devotees  shall  shout  "  Amen," 
to  both  the  blessing  and  the  ban. 


40  THE  RELIGIOUS   ELEMENT 

On  what  other  authority  have  rites  so  bloody  been 
accepted  ;  or  doctrines  so  false  to  reason,  so  libellous 
of  God  ?  For  what  else  has  Man  achieved  such  works, 
and  made  such  sacrifice  ?  In  what  name  but  this,  will 
the  man  of  vast  and  far  outstretching  mind,  the  coun- 
sellor, the  chief,  the  sage,  the  native  king  of  men,  forego 
the  vastness  of  his  thought,  put  out  his  spirit's  eyes, 
and  bow  him  to  a  drivelling  wretch  who  knows  noth- 
ing but  treacherous  mummery  and  juggling  tricks  ?  In 
religion  this  has  been  done  from  the  first  false  prophet 
to  the  last  false  priest,  and  the  pride  of  the  Understand- 
ing is  abashed  ;  the  supremacy  of  Reason  degraded  ; 
the  majesty  of  Conscience  trampled  on  ;  the  beautiful- 
ness  of  Faith  and  Love  trodden  down  into  the  mire  of 
the  streets.  The  hand,  the  foot,  the  eye,  the  ear,  the 
tongue,  the  most  sacred  members  of  the  body  ;  judg- 
ment, imagination,  the  overmastering  faculties  of  mind  ; 
justice,  mercy,  and  love,  the  fairest  affections  of  the 
soul,  —  all  these  have  been  reckoned  a  poor  and  paltry 
sacrifice,  and  lopped  off  at  the  shrine  of  God  as  things 
unholy.  This  has  been  done,  not  only  by  Pagan  poly- 
theists,  and  savage  idolaters,  but  by  Christian  devo- 
tees, accomplished  scholars,  the  enlightened  men  of  en- 
lightened times. 

These  melancholy  results,  which  are  but  aberrations 
of  the  religious  element,  the  disease  of  the  baby,  not 
the  soundness  of  mankind,  have  often  been  confounded 
with  Religion  itself,  regarded  as  the  legitimate  fruit  of 
the  religious  faculty.  Hence  men  have  said,  Such  re- 
sults prove  that  Religion  itself  is  a  popular  fury  ;  the 
foolishness  of  the  people  ;  the  madness  of  mankind. 
They  prove  a  very  different  thing.  They  show  the 
depth,  the  strength,  the  awful  power  of  that  element 
which  thus  can  overmaster  all  the  rest  of  Man  —  Pas- 


THE    STRONGEST    IN   MAN.  41 

sion  and  Conscience,  Reason  and  Love.  Tell  a  man 
his  interest  requires  a  sacrifice,  he  hesitates  ;  convince 
him  his  Religion  demands  it,  and  crowds  rush  at  once 
and  joyful,  to  a  martyr's  fiery  death.  It  is  the  best 
things  that  are  capable  of  the  worst  abuse ;  the  very 
abuse  may  test  the  value.^ 

^  On  this  theme,  see  the  forcible  and  eloquent  remarks  of  Professor 
"Whewell,  in  his  Sermons  on  the  Foundation  of  Morals,  2d  edition,  p. 
28,  et  seq.,  a  work  well  worthy,  in  its  spirit  and  general  tone,  of  his 
illustrious  predecessors,  "  the  Latitude  men  about  Cambridge."  See 
also  Mr.  Parker's  Sermon  Of  the  Relation  between  the  Ecclesiastical 
Institutions,  and  the  Religious  Consciousness  of  the  American  People, 
1855 ;  and  that  Of  the  Function  of  a  Teacher  of  Religion,  1855  ;  Ser- 
mons of  Theism,  Atheism,  and  the  Popular  Theology,  1855,  Sermons 
III.  IV.  V.  VI. 

4* 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  IDEA  OF  RELIGION  CONNECTED  WITH   SCIENCE  AND  LIFE. 

The  legitimate  action  of  the  religious  element  pro- 
duces reverence.  This  reverence  may  ascend  into  Trust, 
Hope,  and  Love,  which  is  according  to  its  nature ;  or 
descend  into  Doubt,  Fear,  and  Hate,  which  is  against 
its  nature  :  it  thus  rises  or  falls,  as  it  coexists  in  the  in- 
dividual, with  wisdom  and  goodness,  or  with  ignorance 
and  vice.  However  the  legitimate  and  normal  action 
of  the  religions  element  leads  ultimately,  and  of  neces- 
sity, to  reverence,  absolute  ti'ust,  and  perfect  love  of 
God.  These  are  the  result  only  of  its  sound  and 
healthy  action. 

Now  there  can  be  but  one  kind  of  Religion,  as  there 
can  be  but  one  kind  of  time  and  space.  It  may  exist 
in  different  degrees,  weak  or  powerful ;  in  combination 
with  other  emotions,  love  or  hate,  with  wisdom  or  folly, 
and  thus  it  is  superficially  modified,  just  as  Love,  which 
is  always  the  same  thing,  is  modified  by  the  character 
of  the  man  who  feels  it,  and  by  that  of  the  object  to 
which  it  is  directed.  Of  course,  then,  there  is  no  differ- 
ence but  of  words  between  revealed  Religion  and  nat- 
ural Religion,  for  all  actual  Religion  is  revealed  in  us, 
or  it  could  not  be  felt,  and  all  revealed  Religion  is  nat- 

(42) 


IDEA    OF   RELIGION.  43 

ural  or  it  would  be  of  no  use.^  What  is  of  use  to 
a  man  comes  upon  the  plane  of  his  consciousness,  not 
merely  above  it,  or  below  it.  We  may  regard  Religion 
from  different  points  of  view,  and  give  corresponding 
names  to  our  partial  conceptions,  which  we  have  pur- 
posely limited,  and  so  speak  of  natural  and  revealed 
Religion  ;  Monotheistic,  Polytheistic,  or  Pantheistic, 
Pagan,  Jewish,  Christian,  Mahometan  Religion.  But 
in  these  cases  the  distinction,  indicated  by  the  terms, 
belongs  to  the  thinker's  mind,  not  to  Religion  itself, 
the  object  of  thought.  Historical  phenomena  of  Relig- 
ion vary  in  the  more  and  less.  Some  express  it  purely 
and  beautifully  ;  others  mingle  foreign  emotions  with 
it,  and  but  feebly  represent  the  pious  feeling. 

To  determine  the  question  what  is  Absolute,  that  is 
perfect  Religion,  —  Religion  with  no  limitation,  we  are 
not  to  gather  to  a  focus  the  scattered  rays  of  all  the 
various  forms  under  which  Religion  has  appeared,  in 
history,  for  we  can  never  collect  the  Absolute  from  any 
number  of  imperfect  phenomena  ;  and,  besides,  in  mak- 
ing the  search  and  forming  an  eclecticism  from  all  the 
historical  religious  phenomena,  we  presuppose  in  our- 
selves the  criterion  by  which  they  are  judged,  namely, 
the  Absolute  itself,,  which  we  seek  to  construct,  and 
thus  move  only  in  a  circle,  and  end  where  we  began. 
To  answer  the  question,  we  must  go  back  to  the  prim- 
itive facts  of  relisfious  consciousness  within  us.  Then 
we  find  religion  is  voluntary  obedience  to  the  law  of 

^  This  distinction  between  natural  and  revealed  religion  is  very  old ; 
at  least  as  old  as  the  time  of  Orlgen.  But  it  is  evidently  a  distinction 
inform  not  in  substance.  The  terms  seem  to  have  risen  from  taking 
an  exclusive  view  of  some  positive  and  historical  form  of  religion.  All 
religions  claim  to  have  been  miraculously  revealed. 


44  IDEA    OF    RELIGION. 

God,  inward  and  outward  obedience  to  that  law  he  has 
written  on  oar  nature,  revealed  in  various  ways  through 
Instinct,  Reason,  Conscience,  and  the  Religious  emo- 
tions. Through  it  we  regard  Him  as  the  absolute  ob- 
ject of  Reverence,  Faith,  and  Love.^  This  obedience 
may  be  unconscious,  as  in  little  children  who  have 
known  no  contradiction  between  duty  and  desire ;  and 
perhaps  involuntary  in  the  perfect  saint,  to  whom  all  du-. 
ties  are  desirable,  who  has  ended  the  contradiction  by 
willing  himself  God's  will,  and  thus  becoming  one  with 
God.  It  may  be  conscious,  as  with  many  men  whose 
strife  is  not  yet  over.     It  seems  the  highest  and  com- 

^  The  above  definition  or  Idea  of  Eeligion  is  not  given  as  the  only 
or  the  best  that  can  possibly  be  given,  but  simply  as  my  own,  the  best 
I  can  find.  If  others  have  a  better  I  shall  rejoice  at  it.  I  will  give 
some  of  the  more  striking  definitions  that  have  been  set  forth  by  oth- 
ers. Plato :  "  A  Likeness  to  God,  according  to  our  ability."  John 
Smith :  "  God  is  First  Truth  and  Primitive  Goodness.  True  Refio-- 
ion  is  a  vigorous  efflux  and  emanation  of  both  upon  the  Spirit  of  man, 

and  therefore  is  called  a  Participation  of  the  Divine  Nature 

Religion  is  a  heaven-born  thing ;  the  seed  of  God  in  the  spirits  of  men 
whereby  they  are  formed  to  a  similitude  and  likeness  of  Himself." 
Kant :  "  Reverence  for  the  moral  law  as  a  divine  command."  Schell- 
ing  :  "  The  union  of  the  Finite  and  the  Infinite."  Fichte  :  "  Faith  in 
a  moral  government  of  the  world."  Hegel :  "  Morahty  becoming  con- 
scious of  the  free  universality  of  its  concrete  essence."  This  will  con- 
vey no  idea  to  one  not  acquainted  with  the  peculiar  phraseology  of 
Hegel.  It  seems  to  mean.  Perfect  mind  becoming  conscious  of  itself 
Schleiermacher :  "  Immediate  self-consciousness  of  the  absolute  de- 
pendence of  all  the  finite  on  the  infinite."  Hase  :  "  Striving  after 
the  Absolute,  w^hich  is  in  itself  unattainable ;  but  by  love  of  it 
man  participates  of  the  dirine  perfection."  Wollaston  :  "  An  obliga- 
tion to  do  what  ought  not  to  be  omitted,  and  to  forbear  what  ought  not 
to  be  done."  Jeremy  Taylor  :  "  The  whole  duty  of  man,  compre- 
hending in  it  justice,  charity,  and  sobriety."  For  the  opinions  of  the 
ancients,  see  a  treatise  of  Nitzsch,  in  Studien  und  Kritiken  for  1828, 
p.  527,  et  seq. 


IDEA    OF   RELIGION.  45 

pletest  mode  of  Religion  must  be  self-conscious,  —  free 
goodness,  free  piety,  and  free,  self-conscious  trust  in  God.^ 

Now  there  are  two  tendencies  connected  with  Relig- 
ion, one  is  speculative  :  here  the  man  is  intellectually 
employed  in  matters  pertaining  to  Religion,  to  God,  to 
Man's  religious  nature,  and  his  relation  and  connection 
with  God.  The  result  of  this  tendency  is  Theology. 
This  is  not  Religion  itself.  It  is  men's  Thought  about 
Religion  ;  the  Philosophy  of  divine  things  ;  the  Science 
of  Religion.  Its  sphere  is  the  mind  of  men.  Religion 
and  Theology  are  no  more  to  be  confounded  than  the 
stars  with  astronomy. ^ 

While  the  religious  element,  like  the  intellectual  or 
the  moral,  or  human  nature  itself,  remains  ever  the 
same,  the  Religious  Consciousness  of  mankind  is  con- 
tinually progressive  ;  and  so  Theology  which  is  the  in- 
tellectual expression  thereof,  advances,  like  all  other 
science,  from  age  to  age.  The  most  various  theological 
doctrines  exist  in  connection  with  religious  emotions, 
helping  or  hindering  man's  general  development.  The 
highest  notion  I  can  form  of  Religion  is  this,  which  I 
call  the  Absolute  Religion :  conscious  service  of  the 
Infinite  God  by  keeping  every  law  he  has  enacted  into 

^  See  Parker's  Sermons  of  Theism,  etc.,  Serm.  V.  and  VI. 

^  Much  difficulty  has  arisen  from  this  confusion  of  Religion  and 
Theology  ;  it  is  one  proximate  cause  of  that  rancorous  hatred  which 
exists  between  the  theological  parties  of  the  present  day.  Each  con- 
nects Religion  exclusively  with  its  own  sectarian  theology.  But  there 
were  great  men  before  Agamemnon  ;  good  men  before  Moses.  The- 
ology is  a  natural  product  of  the  human  mind.  Each  man  has  some 
notion  of  divine  things  —  that  is,  a  theology  ;  if  he  collect  them  into  a 
system,  it  is  a  system  of  theology,  which  differs  in  some  points  from 
that  of  every  other  man  living.  There  is  but  one  Religion,  though 
many  theologies.  See  de  Wette,  Ueber  Religion  und  Theologie,  Part 
I.  Ch.  I.-III. ;  Part  II.  Ch.  I.-III. ;  his  Dogmatlk,  §  4-8. 


46  IDEA    OF   RELIGION. 

the  constitution  of  the  Universe,  —  service  of  Him  by 
the  normal  use,  discipline,  development,  and  delight  of 
every  limb  of  the  body,  every  faculty  of  the  spirit,  and 
so  of  all  the  powers  we  possess. 

The  other  tendency  is  practical ;  here  the  man  is 
employed  in  acts  of  obedience  to  Religion.  The  result 
of  this  tendency  is  Morality.  This  alone  is  not  Relig- 
ion itself,  but  one  part  of  the  life  Religion  demands. 
There  may  be  Morality  deep  and  true  with  little  or  no 
purely  religious  consciousness,  for  a  sharp  analysis  sep- 
arates between  the  religious  and  moral  elements  in  a 
man.^  Morality  is  the  harmony  between  man's  action 
and  the  natural  law  of  God.  It  is  a  part  of  Religion 
which  includes  it  "  as  the  Sea  her  waves."  In  its  high- 
est form  Morality  doubtless  implies  Religious  emotions, 
but  not  necessarily  the  self-consciousness  thereof.  For 
though  Piety,  the  love  of  God,  and  Benevolence,  the 
love  of  Man,  do  logically  involve  each  other,  yet  experi- 
ence shows  that  a  man  may  see  and  observe  the  dis- 
tinction between  right  and  wrong,  clearly  and  disinter- 
estedly, without  consciously  feeling  as  such,  reverence, 
or  love  of  God ;  that  is,  he  may  be  truly  moral  up  to 
a  certain  point,  without  being  consciously  religious, 
though  he  cannot  be  truly  religious  without  at  the  same 


^  It  seems  plain,  that  the  ethical  and  religious  element  in  Man  are 
not  the  same  ;  at  least,  they  are  as  unlike  as  Memory  and  Imagination, 
though,  like  these,  they  act  most  harmoniously  when  in  conjunction. 
It  is  true  we  cannot  draw  a  line  between  them  as  between  Sight  and 
Hearing,  but  this  inability  to  tell  where  one  begins  and  the  other  ends, 
is  no  argument  against  the  separate  existence  of  the  faculties  them- 
selves. See  Kant,  Religion  innerhalb  der  Grenzen  der  blossen  Ver- 
nunft ;  2d  Ed.,  1794,  Pref.  p.  iii.  et  seq.  Still  Religion  and  Morality 
are  to  be  distinguished  by  their  centre  rather  than  their  circumference , 
by  their  type  more  than  their  limit. 


IDEA    OF    RELIGION.  47 

time  being  moral  also.  But  in  a  harmonious  man,  the 
two  are  practically  inseparable  as  substance  and  form. 
The  merely  moral  man  in  the  actions,  thoughts,  and 
feelings  which  relate  to  his  fellow-mortal,  obeys  the 
eternal  law  of  duty,  revealed  in  his  nature,  as  such,  and 
from  love  of  that  law,  without  regard  to  its  Author. 
The  religious  man  obeys  the  same  law,  but  regards  it 
as  the  will  of  God.  One  rests  in  the  Law,  the  other 
only  in  its  Author.^ 

Now  in  all  forms  of  Religion  there  must  be  a  com- 
mon element  which  is  the  same  thing  in  each  man ;  not 
a  similar  thing,  but  just  the  same  thing,  differing  only 
in  degree,  not  in  kind,  and  in  its  direction  towards  one 
or  many  objects,  in  both  of  which  particulars  it  is  in- 
fluenced in  some  measure  by  external  circumstances. 
Then  since  men  exist  under  most  various  conditions, 
and  in  widely  different  degrees  of  civilization,  it  is 
plain  that  the  religious  consciousness  must  appear  un- 
der various  forms,  accompanied  with  various  doctrines, 
as  to  the  number  and  nature  of  its  Objects,  the  Deities ; 
with  various  rites,  forms,  and  ceremonies,  as  it  means 
to  appease,  propitiate,  and  serve  these  Objects ;  with 
various  organizations,  designed  to  accomplish  the  pur- 
poses which  it  is  supposed  to  demand  ;  and  in  short, 
with  apparently  various  and  even  opposite  effects  upon 
life  and  character.  As  all  men  are  at  bottom  the  same, 
but  as  no  two  nations  or  ages  are  exactly  alike  in  char- 
acter, circumstances,  or  development,  so  therefore, 
though  the  religious  element  *be  the  same  in  all,  we 
must  expect  to  find  that  its  manifestations  are  never 
exactly  alike  in  any  two  ages   or  nations,  though  they 

*  See  Mr.  Parker's  Ten  Sermons,  Sermons  I.  to  V. 


48  DIFFERENCES   IN   RELIGION. 

give  the  same  name  to  their  form  of  worship.  If  we 
look  still  more  minutely,  we  see  that  no  two  men  are 
exactly  alike  in  character,  circumstances,  and  develop- 
ment, and  therefore  that  no  two  men  can  exhibit  their 
Religion  in  just  the  same  way,  though  they  kneel  at 
the  same  altar,  and  pronounce  the  same  creed.  From 
the  difference  between  men,  it  follows,  that  there  must 
be  as  many  different  subjective  conceptions  of  God, 
and  forms  of  Religion,  as  there  are  men  and  women 
who  think  about  God,  and  apply  their  thoughts  and 
feelings  to  life.  Hence,  though  the  religious  faculty 
be  always  the  same  in  all,  the  Doctrines  of  Religion, 
or  theology  ;  the  Forms  of  Religion,  or  mode  of  wor- 
ship ;  and  the  Practice  of  Religion,  which  is  Morality, 
cannot  be  the  same  thing  in  any  two  men,  though  one 
mother  bore  them,  and  they  were  educated  in  the  same 
way.  The  conception  we  form  of  God  ;  oUr  notion 
about  Man ;  of  the  relation  between  him  and  God  ;  of 
the  duties  which  grow  out  of  that  relation,  may  be 
taken  as  the  exponent  of  all  the  man's  thoughts,  feel- 
ings, and  life.  They  are  therefore  alike  the  measure 
and  the  result  of  the  total  development  of  a  man,  an 
age,  or  race.  If  these  things  are  so,  then  the  phenom- 
ena of  Religion  —  like  those  of  Science  and  Art  —  must 
vary  from  land  to  land,  and  age  to  age,  with  the  vary- 
ing civilization  of  mankind  ;  must  be  one  thing  in  New 
Zealand,  and  the  first  century,  and  something  quite 
different  in  New  England,  and  the  fifty-ninth  century. 
They  must  be  one  thing  in  the  wise  man,  and  another 
in  the  foolish  man.  They  must  vary  also  in  the  same 
individual,  for  a  man's  wisdom,  goodness,  and  general 
character,  affect  the  phenomena  of  his  Religion.  The 
Religion  of  the  boy  and  the  man,  of  Saul  the  youth, 


RELIGIOUS   PHENOMENA.  49 

and  Paul  the  aged,  how  unlike  they  appear.  The  boy's 
prayer  will  not  fill  the  man's  heart;  nor  can  the  strip- 
ling son  of  Zebedee  comprehend  that  devotion  and  life, 
which  he  shall  enjoy  when  he  becomes  the  Saint  mature 
in  years, 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE   THREE    GREAT    HISTORICAL    FORMS    OF   RELIGION. 

Looking  at  the  religious  history  of  mankind,  and  es- 
pecially at  that  portion  of  the  human  race  which  has 
risen  highest  in  the  scale  of  progress,  we  see  that  the 
various  phenomena  of  Religion  may,  for  the  pres- 
ent purpose,  be  summed  up  in  three  distinct  classes 
or  types,  corresponding  to  three  distinct  degrees  of  civ- 
ilization, and  almost  inseparable  from  them.  These 
are  Fetichism,  Polytheism,  and  Monotheism.  But  this 
classification  is  imperfect,  and  wholly  external,  though 
of  use  for  the  present  purpose.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  we  never  find  a  nation  in  which  either  mode 
prevails  alone.  Nothing  is  truer  than  this,  that  minds 
of  the  same  spiritual  growth,  see  the  same  spiritual 
truth.  Thus,  a  savage  Saint,  living  in  a  nation  of 
Idolaters  or  Polytheists,  worships  the  one  true  God,  as 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  done.  In  a  Christian  land,  su- 
perstitious men  may  be  found,  who  are  as  much  Idol- 
aters as  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  Jeroboam. 

I.  Fetichism  denotes  the  worship  of  visible  objects, 
such  as  beasts,  birds,  fish,  insects,  trees,  mountains,  the 
stars,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth,  the  sea  and  air,  as 
types  of  the  infinite  Spirit.    It  is  the  worship  of  Nature.^ 

1  It  will  probably  be  denied  by  some,  that  these  objects  were  wor- 
shipped as  symbols  of  the  deity.    It  seems,  however,  that  even  thu 
(50) 


FETICHISM.  61 

It  includes  many  forms  of  religious  observances  that 
prevailed  widely  in  ancient  days,  and  still  continue 
among  savage  tribes.  It  belongs  to  a  period  in  the 
progress  of  the  individual,  or  society,  when  civilization 
is  low,  the  manners  wild  and  barbarous,  and  the  intellect 
act's  in  ignorance  of  the  causes  at  work  around  it ;  when 
Man  neither  understands  nature,  nor  himself.  Some 
writers  suppose  the  human  race  started  at  first  with  a 
pure  Theism;  for  the  knowledge  of  truth,  say  they, 
must  be  older  than  the  preception  of  error,  in  this  re- 
spect. It  seems  the  sentiment  of  Man  would  lead  him 
to  the  ONE  God.  Doubtless  it  would  if  the  conditions 
of  its  highest  action  were  perfectly  fulfilled.  But  as  this 
is  not  done  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and  barbarism,  there- 
fore the  religious  sentiment  mistakes  its  object,  and 
sometimes  worships  the  symbol  more  than  the  thing  it 
stands  for. 

In  this  stage  of  growth,  not  only  the  common  objects 
above  enumerated,  but  gems,  metals,  stones  that  fell 
from  heaven,^  images,  carved  bits  of  wood,  stuffed  skins 

most  savage  nations  regarded  their  Idols  only  as  Types  of  God.  On 
tills  subject,  see  Constant,  Religion,  etc.;  Paris.  1824.  5  vols.  8vo. : 
Philip  Van  Limburg  Brauwer,  Histoire  de  la  Civilization  morale  et 
rellgleuse  des  Grecs,  etc.;  Groningues,  1833-42,  8  vols.  8  vo..  Vol.  II. 
Ch.  IX.  X.  et  alibi.  Oldendorp,  Geschlchte  der  Mission — auf — St. 
Thomas,  etc.;  Barby.  1777,  p.  318,  et  seq.  Du  Culte  des  DIeux  fet- 
iches [par  De  Brosses;  Paris]  1770.  1  vol.  12mo.  Movers,  Unter- 
suchung  iiber  die  Religion  und  der  Gottheiten  der  Phonlzler ;  Bonn. 
1841.  2  vols.  8vo.  Comte,  Cours  de  Philosophic  positive.  Vol.  V. ; 
Stuhr,  AUg.  Gesch.  der  Rellglonsformen ;  Berlin,  1838,  2  vols.  8vo. 
Meimers,  ubi  supra,  and  the  numerous  accounts  of  the  savage  nations, 
by  missionaries,  travellers,  etc.  Catlln,  ubi  supra,  Vol.  I.  p.  35,  et  seq. 
p.  88,  et  seq.  p.  156,  et  seq.  etc. 

^  These  Stone-fetiches  are  called  Baetylia  by  the  learned.  Cybelo 
was  worshipped  in  the  form  of  a  black  stone,  in  Asia  Minor.  Theo* 
phraist.  Charact.  16.    Lucian,  Pseudomant,  §  30.    The  ancient  Lapland- 


52  FETICHISM. 

of  beasts,  like  the  medicine-hags  of  the  North  American 
Indians,  are  reckoned  as  divinities,  and  so  become  ob- 
jects of  adoration. 2  But  in  this  case  the  visible  object 
is  idealized  ;  not  worshipped  as  the  brute  thing  it  really 
is,  but  as  the  type  and  symbol  of  God.  Nature  is  an 
Apparation  of  the  Deity,  God  in  a  mask.  Brute  matter 
was  never  an  object  of  adoration.  Thus  the  Egyptians, 
who  worshipped  the  Crocodile,  did  not  worship  it  as  a 
Crocodile,  but  as  a  symbol  of  God,  "an  appropriate 
one,"  says  Plutarch,  "  for  it  alone,  of  all  animals,  has  no 
tongue,  and  God  needs  none  to  speak  his  power  and 
glory."  Similar  causes,  it  may  be,  led  to  the  worship 
of  other  animals.  Thus  the  Hawk  was  a  type  of  divine 
foresight ;  the  Bull  of  strength  ;  the  Serpent  of  mystery. 
The  Savage  did  not  worship  the  Buffalo,  but  the  Mani- 
tou  of  all  Buffaloes,  the  universal  cause  of  each  particu- 
lar effect.  Still  more,  there  is  something  mysterious 
about  the  animals.  Their  instinctive  knowledge  of 
coming  storms,  and  other  events;  the  wondrous  forc- 
ers, also  worsliippecl  large  stones  called  Seiteh.  See  Scheflfcr's  Lapp- 
land.  In  tlie  time  of  Pausanias,  at  Phorse,  in  Achaia,  there  were 
nearly  thirty  square  stones,  called  by  the  names  of  the  Gods,  and 
worshipped.  0pp.;  ed.  Lips.  1838,  Vol.  IL  Lib.  VII.  ch.  22,  p.  618. 
Rough  stones,  he  adds,  formerly  received  divine  honors  universally  in 
Greece.  The  erection  of  such  is  forbidden  in  Levlt.  XXVI.  1.  et  al., 
on  this  form  of  worship.  See  some  curious  facts  collected  by  Mche- 
let,  Hist,  de  France,  Liv.  I.  Eclaircissements,  Oeuvres ;  Ed.  Brux- 
elles,  1840.  Tom.  III.  p.  51,  55,  61,  seq.  93,  (note  I).  The  erection 
of  Baetylia  is  forbidden  by  several  councils  of  the  Church,  e.  g.  C. 
Arelat,  II.  Can.  23;  C.  Autoisoid,  Can.  3  ;  C.  Tolet.  XII.  Can.  11. 

-  See  Catlin,  ubi  supra.  See  also  Legis,  Fundgruben  des  Alten 
Nordens,  Leip. ;  1829,  2  vols.  8vo.  and  his  Alkuna,  Nordische  und 
Nord-Slawische  Mythologie  ;  Leip.  1831,  Vol.  L,  8vo.  Mone,  Ges- 
chichte  der  Heidenthums  in  Nordlichen  Europa;  Leip.  1822,  2  vols. 
8vo.  See  Grimm,  Deutsche  Mythologie;  Gott,  1835, for  this  worship 
of  Nature  in  the  North. 


FETICHISM.  53 

sight  of  the  Beaver,  the  Bee;  the  sagacity  of  the  Dog; 
the  obscurity  attending  all  their  emotions,  helped,  no 
doubt,  to  procure  them  a  place  among  powers  greater 
than  human.  It  is  the  Unknown  which  men  wor- 
ship in  common  things ;  at  this  stage,  man,  whose 
emotions  are  understood,  is  never  an  object  of  adora- 
tion. ^ 

Fetichism  is  the  infancy  of  Religion.  Here  the  relig- 
ious consciousness  is  still  in  the  arms  of  rude,  savage  life, 
where  sensation  prevails  over  reflection.  It  is  a  deifica- 
tion of  Nature,  "  All  is  God,  but  God  himself."  It  loses 
the  Infinite  in  the  finite  ;  worships  the  creature  more  than 
the  Creator.  Its  lowest  form  —  for  in  this  lowest  deep, 
there  is  a  lower  deep  —  is  the  worship  of  beasts  ;  the 
highest  the  sublime,  but  deceitful  reverence  which  the 
old  Sabaean  paid  the  host  of  Heaven,  or  which  some 
Grecian  or  Indian  philosopher  offered  to  the  Universe 
personified,  and  called  Pan,  or  Brahma,  Then  all  the 
mass  of  created  things  was  a  Fetiche.  God  was  wor- 
shipped in  a  sublime  and  devout,  but  bewildering  Pan- 
theism. He  was  not  considered  as  distinct  from  the 
Universe.     Pantheism  and  Fetichism  are  nearly  allied.^ 

^  But  see  the  causes  of  Animal  worship  assigned  by  Diod.  Sic.  Lip. 
f.  p.  76.  ed  Rhodoman ;  the  remarks  of  Cicero,  De  Nat.  Deonmi. 
Tusc.  V,  et  al. ;  Plutarch,  De  Iside  et  Osir.  p.  72,  et  seq.  et  al. ;  Wil- 
kinson, Manners,  etc.  of  Ancient  Egj-pt,  2d  Series,  Vol.  I.  p.  104, 
seq.  and  Porphyry,  De  Abst,  IV.  9,  cited  by  him.  Jean  Paul  says, 
that  "  in  the  beast  men  see  the  Isis-veil  of  a  Deity,"  a  thought  which 
Hegel  has  expanded  in  his  Philos.  der  Religion.  See  Creutzer,  Sym- 
bol. 3d  ed.  Vol.  I.  p.  30,  et  seq. 

-  In  consequence  of  the  opinion  in  fetichistic  nations,  that  externa/ 
things  have  a  mysterious  life,  J\L  Comte,  ubi  supra,  VoL  V.  p.  36,  et 
seq.  discovers  traces  of  it  in  animals.  When  a  savage,  a  child,  or  a 
dog,  first  hears  a  watch  tick,  each  supposes  it  endowed  with  life, 
"  whence  results,  by  natural  consequence,  a  Fetichism,  which,  at  bot- 

5* 


54  FETICHISM. 

Ill  the  lowest  form  of  this  worship,  so  far  as  we  can 
gather  from  the  savage  tribes,  each  individual  has  his 
own  peculiar  Fetiche,  a  beast,  an  image,  a  stone,  a 
mountain,  or  a  star,  a  concrete  and  visible  type  of  God. 
For  it  seems,  in  this  state,  that  all,  or  most  external 
things,  are  supposed  to  have  a  life  analogous  in  kind  to 
ours,  but  more  or  less  intense  in  degree.  The  concrete 
form  is  but  the  veil  of  God,  like  that  before  Isis  in 
Egypt.  There  are  no  priests,  for  each  man  has  access 
to  his  own  deity  at  will.  Worship  and  prayer  are  per- 
sonal, and  without  mediators.  The  age  of  the  priest- 
hood, as  a  distinct  class,  has  not  come.  Worship  is 
entirely  free ;  there  is  no  rite,  established  and  fixed. 
Public  theological  doctrines  are  not  yet  formed.  There 
are  no  mysteries  in  which  each  may  not  share. 

This  state  of  Fetichism  continues  as  long  as  Man  is 
in  the  gross  state  of  ignorance  which  renders  it  possible. 
Next,  as   the  power  of  abstraction  and  generalization 

torn,  is  common  to  all  three ! "  Here  he  confounds  the  si(/7i  with  the 
caiise. 

Pliny  has  a  curious  passage  in  which  he  ascribes  to  the  Elephant 
iEquitas,  Religio  quoque  Siderum ;  Sollsque  ac  Lunae  Veneratio. 
Nat.  Hist.  Lib.  YIH.  Ch.  1.  The  notion  that  beasts  had  a  moral 
sense  appears  frequently  among  the  ancients.  Ulpian  says  jus  natu- 
rale  is  common  to  all  animals.  Origen  says  that  Celsus  taught  that 
there  was  no  difference  between  the  Soul  of  a  man  and  that  of  Em- 
mets, Bees,  etc.,  Lib.  H.  Cels.  Cont.  Clement  of  Alex.  (Stromt.  VI. 
14.  p.  705-6,  ed.  Potter,)  says  God  gave  the  Heathen  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  that  they  might  worship  them,  such  worship  being  the  way 
to  that  of  God  himself  Perhaps  he  was  led  to  this  opinion  by  follow- 
ing the  LXX.  in  Deut.  IV.  19. 

Fetichism  continued  in  Europe  long  after  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  councils  of  the  Church  forbid  its  various  forms  in  numer- 
ous decrees,  e.  g.  C.  Turg.  II.  can.  22.  C.  Autoisiod.  can.  1.  4 ;  C. 
Quinlsext,  can.  62.  65.  79  :  Narhon.  can.  15.  C.  Rothomag.  can.  4.  14. 
See  in  StaudHn,  Gesch.  Theol.  Vol.  HL  371.  et  seq. 


FETICHISM.  55 

becomes  enlarged,  and  the  qualities  of  external  nature 
are  understood,  there  are  concrete  and  visible  Gods  for 
the  Family ;  next  for  the  Tribe ;  then  for  the  Nation. 
But  their  power  is  supposed  to  be  limited  within  cer- 
tain bounds.  A  subsequent  generalization  gives  an  in- 
visible but  still  concrete  Deity  for  each  department  of 
Nature  —  the  earth,  the  sea,  the  sky. 

Now  as  soon  as  there  is  a  Fetiche  for  the  family,  or 
the  tribe,  a  mediator  becomes  needed  to  interpret  the 
will,  and  insure  the  favor  of  that  Fetiche,  to  bring  rain, 
or  plenty,  or  success,  and  to  avert  impending  evils. 
Such  are  the  angekoks  of  the  Esquimaux,  the  medicine' 
men  of  the  Mandans,  the  jugglers  of  the  Negroes.  Then 
a  priesthood  gradually  springs  up,  at  first  possessing 
none  but  spiritual  powers ;  at  length  it  surrounds  its 
God  with  mysteries  ;  excludes  him  from  the  public  eye  ; 
establishes  forms,  sacrifices,  and  doctrines  ;  limits  access 
to  the  Gods ;  becomes  tyrannical ;  aspires  after  politi- 
cal power,  and  founds  a  theocracy,  the  worst  of  despot- 
isms, the  earliest,  and  the  most  lasting.^  Still  it  has 
occapied  a  high  and  indispensable  position  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  human  race. 

The  highest  form  of  Fetichism  is  the  worship  of  the 
stars,  or  of  the  universe.  ^     Here  it  easily  branches  off 

^  See  at  the  end  of  Hodges's  "  Elihu,"  etc. ;  London,  1750,  1  vol.  4to. 
a  sti'iking  account  of  the  manner  in  which  religious  forms  are  estab- 
lished, taken  from  a  French  publication  which  was  burned  by  the  com- 
mon hangman  at  Paris.  See  also  on  the  establishment  and  influence 
of  the  priesthood  upon  religion,  Constant,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  Liv.  III. 
IV. ;  Vol.  IV.  passim.  His  judgment  of  the  priesthood,  though  often 
just,  is  sometimes  too  severe.  Com.te,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  V.  p.  57,  et  seq. 
On  the  priesthood  among  savage  nations,  see  Pritchard,  ubi  sup.  Vol. 
I.  p.  20G,  et  seq.     Meiners,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  p.  481-602. 

^  See  Strabo's  remarkable  account  of  the  worship  of  the  Ancient 
Persians,  0pp.  ed.  Siebenkees,  Vol.  VI.  Lib.  XV.  §  13,  p.  221.     See 


56  FETICHISM. 

into  Polytheism.  Indeed  it  is  impossible  to  tell  where 
one  begins  and  the  other  ends,  for  traces  of  each  of  the 
three  forms  are  found  in  all  the  others;  the  two  must  be 
distinguished  by  their  centre  not  their  circumference. 
The  Great  Spirit  is  worshipped,  perhaps,  in  all  stages 
of  Fetichism.  The  Fetiche  and  the  Manitou,  visible 
types,  are  not  the  Great  Spirit.  But  even  in  the  wor- 
ship of  many  Gods,  or  of  one  alone,  traces  of  the  ruder 
form  still  linger.  The  Fetiche  of  the  individual  is  pre- 
served in  the  Amulet,  worn  as  a  charm ;  in  the  figure 
of  an  animal  painted  on  the  dress,  the  armor,  or  the 
flesh  of  the  worshipper.  The  Family  Fetiche  survives 
in  the  household  Gods ;  the  Penates  of  the  Romans ; 
the  Teraphim  of  Laban ;  the  Idol  of  Micah.  The  Fet- 
iche of  the  Tribe  still  lives  in  the  Lares  of  the  Roman ; 
in  the  pati'on  God  of  each  Grecian  people ;  in  some  ani- 
mal treated  with  great  respect,  or  idealized  in  art,  as  the 
Bull  Apis,  the  brazen  Serpent,  Horses  consecrated  to 
the  Sun  in  Solomon's  Temple ;  ^  in  an  image  of  Deity, 
like  the  old  wooden  statues  of  Minerva,  always  religious- 
ly kept,  or  the  magnificent  figures  of  the  Gods  in  mar- 
ble, ivory,  or  gold,  the  productions  of  maturest  art ;  in 
some  chosen  symbol,  the  Palladium,  the  Ancilia,  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant.  The  Fetiche  of  the  Nation,  al- 
most inseparably  connected  with  the  former,  is  still  re- 
membered in  the  mystical  Cherubim,  and  Most  Holy 
Place  among  the  Jews ;  in  the  Olympian  Jove  of  Greece, 
and  the  Capitoline  Jupiter  of  Rome ;  in  the  image  of 
"  the  Great  Goddess  Diana,  which  fell  down  from  Ju- 
piter."    It  appears  also  in  reverence  for  particular  places 

too  the  remarks  of  Herbert,  De  Religione  Gentilitium ;  Amst.  1663,  ^ 
vol.  4to.  Ch.  II.  XIV.  et  al. 

^  Vatke,  Biblische  Theologie ;  Berlin,  1835,  Vol.  I.  attempts  to  trace 
out  the  connection  of  Fetichism  with  the  Jewish  ritual. 


FETICHISM.  57 

formerly  deemed  the  local  and  exclusive  residence  of 
the  Fetiche,  —  such  as  the  Caaba  at  Mecca ;  Hebron, 
Moriah,  and  Bethel  in  Judea ;  Delphi  in  Greece,  and  the 
great  gathering  places  of  the  North-men  in  Europe, 
spots  deemed  holy  by  the  superstitious  even  now,  and 
therefore  made  the  site  of  Christian  Churches.^ 

Other  and  more  general  vestiges  of  Fetichism  remain 
in  the  popular  superstitions ;  in  the  belief  of  signs, 
omens,  auguries,  divination  by  the  flight  of  birds,  and 
other  accidental  occurrences ;  in  the  notion  that  unu- 
sual events,  thunder,  and  earthquakes,  and  pestilence, 
are  peculiar  manifestations  of  God;  that  he  is  more  spe- 
cially present  in  a  certain  place,  as  a  church,  or  time,  as 
the  sabbath,  or  the  hour  of  death ;  is  pleased  with  ac- 
tions not  natural,  sacrifices,  fasts,  penance,  and  the  like.^ 
Perhaps  no  form  of  religion  has  yet  been  adopted,  which, 
has  not  the  stain  of  Fetichism  upon  it.  The  popular 
Christian  theology  is  full  of  it.  The  names  of  the  constel- 
lations are  records  of  Fetichism  that  will  long  endure.^ 

^  See  Mone,  ubi  supra,  Yol.  I.  p.  23,  et  seq.  p.  43,  et  seq.  p.  113,  et 
seq.  p.  249,  et  seq.  and  elsewhere.  Wilkinson,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  Ch. 
XII.  Yol.  II.  Ch..II.  and  XI Y.  His  theory,  however,  diflfers  widely 
from  the  above.  Whatever  was  extraordinary  was  deemed  eminently 
divine.  Thus  with  the  Hebrews  a  great  cedar  was  the  cedar  of  God. 
Other  nations  had  their  De-wa-da-ru,  God-Timber,  etc.  See  Grimm, 
Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  41,  et  seq.  Lucan,  Pharsal,  Lib.  HI.  399, 
et  seq.  JMithridates,  at  the  siege  of  Patara,  dared  not  cut  down  the 
sacred  trees.  Appian  De  Bello  IVIith.  Ch.  XXYH.  0pp.  ed.  Schweig- 
hauser,  I.  p.  679-80. 

^  The  great  religious  festivals  of  the  Christians,  Yule  and  Easter, 
are  easily  traced  back  to  such  an  occasion,  at  least  to  analogous  festi- 
vals of  fetichistic  or  polytheistic  people.  The  festival  of  John  the 
Baptist  must  be  put  in  this  class.  See  some  details  on  this  subject  in 
a  very  poor  book  of  Nork's,  Der  Mystagog,  etc. 

^  See  Creutzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie,  3d  ed.  Yol.  I.  p.  30,  et 
seq. 


58  FETICHISM. 

Under  this  form  Religion  has  the  smallest  sound  in  ■ 
fluence  upon  life  ;  the  religious  does  not  aid  the  moral 
element.^  The  supposed  demands  of  Religion  seem 
capricious  to  the  last  degree,  unnatural  and  absurd. 
The  imperfect  priesthood  of  necromancers  and  jugglers, 
—  which  belongs  to  this  period,  —  enhances  the  evil  by 
multiplying  rites ;  encouraging  asceticism  ;  laying  heavy 
burdens  upon  the  people ;  demanding  odious  mutila- 
tions and  horrible  sacrifices,  often  of  human  victims,  in 
the  name  of  God,  and  in  helping  to  keep  Religion  in  its 
infant  state,  by  forbidding  the  secular  eye  to  look  upon 
its  mysterious  jugglery,  and  prohibiting  the  banns  be- 
tween Faith  and  Knowledge.  Still  this  class,  devoted 
to  speculation  and  study,  does  great  immediate  service 
to  the  race,  by  promoting  science  and  art,  and  indirectly 
and  against  its  will  contributes  to  overturn  the  form  it 
designs  to  support.  The  priesthood  comes  unavoid- 
ably. ^ 

In  a  low  form  of  Fetichism,  a  Law  of  Nature  seems 
scarce  ever  recognized.  All  things  are  thought  to  have 
a  life  of  their  own ;  all  phenomena,  growth,  decay,  and 
reproduction.  The  seasons  of  the  year,  the  changes  in 
the  sky,  and  similar  things,  depend  on  the  caprice  of  the 
Deities.  The  jugglers  can  make  it  rain  ;  a  witch  can 
split  the  moon  ;  a  magician  heal  the  sick.  Law  is  re- 
solved into  miracle.  The  most  cunning  men,  who  un- 
derstand the  Laws  of  Nature  better  than  others,  are 
miracle-workers,   magicians,  priests,  necromancers,   as- 

^  The  Guaycams  Indians  of  South  America  put  to  death  aU  chil- 
dren born  before  the  30th  year  of  their  mother.  Bartlett's  Progress 
of  Ethnology;  N.  Y.  1847,  p.  28. 

^  See  the  remarks  of  Lafitau,  Mceurs  des  sauvages  Ameriquains, 
etc.,  2  vols.  4to  ;  Paris,  1734,  Vol.  I.  p.  108-45G.  His  work  is  amaz 
ingly  superficial,  but  contains  now  and  then  a  good  thing. 


FETICHISM.  59 

trologers,  soothsayers,  physicians,  general  mediators  and 
interpreters  of  the  Gods  ;  as  the  Mandans  called  them 
"  great  medicine-men."  ^ 

Then  as  men  experience  both  joy  and  grief,  pain  and 
pleasure,  and  as  they  are  too  rude  in  thought  to  see 
that  both  are  but  different  phases  of  the  same  thing, 
and  affliction  is  but  success  in  a  mask,  it  is  supposed 
they  cannot  be  the  work  of  the  same  Divinity.  Hence 
comes  the  wide  division  into  good  and  evil  Gods,  a  dis- 
tinction found  in  all  religions,  and  carefully  preserved 
in  the  theological  doctrines  of  the  Christian  church. 
Worship  is  paid  both  to  the  good  and  evil  Deity.  A 
sacrifice  is  offered  to  avert  the  wrath  of  the  one,  and 
secure  the  favor  of  the  other.  The  sacrifice  corresponds 
to  the  character  ascribed  to  the  Deity,  and  this  depends 
again  on  the  national  and  personal  character  of  the 
devotee.^ 

Now  in  that  stage  of  civilization  where  every  man 
has  his  own  personal  Deity  and  no  two  perhaps  the 
same,  the  bond  that  unites  man  to  man  is  exceedingly 

^  Mr.  Catlin,  ubi  sup.  relates  anecdotes  that  illustrate  the  state  of 
thought  and  feeling  in  the  state  of  Feticliism.  Much  also  may  be 
found  in  Marco  Polo's  Travels  in  the  Eastern  parts  of  the  World ; 
London,  1818,  and  in  Marsden's  Notes  to  that  edition.  The  early 
Voyagers,  likewise,  are  full  of  facts  that  belong  here. 

2  The  worship  of  evil  beings  is  a  curious  phenomenon  in  human  his- 
tory. The  literature  of  the  subject  is  copious  and  instructive.  Some 
famous  men  think  the  existence  of  the  Devil  cannot  be  found  out  by 
the  hght  of  Nature  and  unaided  Reason  ;  others  make  it  a  doctrine  of 
natural  religion.  Some  think  him  incapable  of  Atheism,  though  only 
a  speculative  iheist.  The  doctrine  is  a  disgrace  to  the  Christian 
Church,  and  well  fitted  to  excite  the  disgust  of  thinking  and  piouf 
men.  But  see  what  may  be  said  for  the  doctrine  by  Mayer,  Historia 
Diaboh,  2d  edition;  1780.  See  the  literature  in  Wegscheider,  In- 
stitutiones,  §  104-5. 


60  FETICHISM. 

slight.  Each  man's  hand  is,  in  some  measure,  against 
his  brother's.  Opposition,  or  unlikeness  among  the 
Gods,  leads  to  hostility  among  men.  Thus  family  is 
arrayed  against  family,  tribe  against  tribe,  nation 
against  nation,  because  the  peculiar  God  of  the  one 
family,  tribe,  or  nation,  is  deemed  hostile  to  all  others. 
Therefore  among  cruel  nations,  whose  Gods  of  course 
are  conceived  of  as  cruel,  the  most  acceptable  sacri- 
fice to  the  Fetiche  is  the  blood  of  his  enemies.  A 
stranger  whom  accident  or  design  brings  to  the  devotee 
is  a  choice  offering.  The  Saint  is  a  murderer.  War 
is  a  constant  and  normal  state  of  men,  not  an  exception 
as  it  afterwards  becomes  ;  the  captives  are  sacrificed  as 
a  matter  of  course.  The  energies  of  the  race  are  de- 
voted to  destruction ;  not  to  creative  industry.  It  is 
the  business  of  a  man  to  war ;  of  a  slave  and  a  woman 
to  till  the  soil.  The  fancied  God" guides  the  deepening 
battle ;  presides  over  the  butchery,  and  canonizes  the 
bloody  hand.  He  is  the  God  of  Battles,  teaches  men 
to  war,  inspires  them  to  fight. 

It  is,  unfortunately,  but  too  easy  to  find  historical 
verifications  of  this  phase  of  human  nature.  The  Jews, 
in  their  early  and  remarkable  passage  from  Fetichism 
to  Polytheism  and  Monotheism  —  if  we  may  trust  the 
tale — resolve  to  exterminate  all  the  Canaanites,  mill- 
ions of  men,  unoffending  and  peaceful,  because  the  two 
nations  worshipped  different  Gods,  and  Jehovah,  the 
peculiar  deity  of  the  Jews,  a  jealous  God,  demanded 
the  destruction  of  the  other  nation,  who  did  not  worship 
him.     Men,  women,  and  children  must  be  slain.^     The 

^  See  a  dreadful  example  of  human  sacrifice  in  2  Kings,  III.  27. 
This  prevailed  in  many  parts  of  America  when  first  discovered  by  the 
Christians,  who  continued  it  in  a  different  form,  not  offering  to  God 
but  Mammon.     See  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  III. 


FETICHISM.  61 

Spaniards  found  cannibalism  in  the  name  of  God,  pre- 
vailing at  Mexico,  and  elsewhere.  In  our  day  it  still 
continues  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  under  forms  horri- 
ble almost  as  of  old  in  the  Holy  Land.^ 

But  the  intense  demands  which  war  makes  on  all  the 
energies  of  men,  help  to  unfold  the  thinking  faculty,  to 
elevate  the  race,  and  thus  indirectly  to  promote  truer 
notions  of  Religion.  Thus  War,  cruel  and  hideous 
monster  as  he  is,  has  yet  rocked  Art  and  Science  in 
his  bloody  arms.  God  makes  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  him ; 

"  From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good, 
And  better  thence  again,  and  better  still 
In  infinite  progression." 

As  civilization  goes  forward  in  this  rough  way,  the 
voice  of  humanity  begins  to  speak  more  loudly.  Moral- 
ity is  wedded  to  Religion,  and  a  new  progeny  is  born 
to  bless  the  world.  It  begins  to  be  felt  that  if  the  cap- 
tive consents  to  serve  his  conqueror's  God,  the  service 
will  be  more  acceptable  than  his  death.  Hence  he  is 
spared ;  still  worships  his  own  Deity  perhaps,  but  con- 

p.  296-7,  for  some  forms  of  this.  The  whole  of  Chap.  XXII.  is  re- 
plete with  philosophical  and  historical  instruction,  and  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  brilliant  even  in  that  series  of  shining  pages. 

^  On  this  passage  in  human  history,  see  Comte,  Yol.  V.  p.  90,  et 
seq.  p.  132,  et  seq.  and  p.  186,  et  seq. 

See  F.  W.  Chillani,  Die  Menschen-Opf.  der  alten  Hebraer ; 
Niirmberg,  1842,  1  vol.  8vo.  He  strongly  maintains  that  human  sac- 
rifice was  not  forbidden  by  Moses,  but  continued  a  legal  and  essential 
part  of  the  national  worship  tiU  the  separation  of  the  two  kingdoms. 
Vestiges  of  this  he  thinks  appear  in  the  consecration  of  the  first-born, 
in  circumcision,  in  the  Paschal  Lamb,  etc.  etc.  He  cites  many  curi- 
ous facts.  See  p.  376.  Daumer  Geheimnitze  des  Christlichen 
Alterthums  ;   Hamb.  1847,  ch.  3,  5,  9-16,  74,  75,  et  al. 

6 


62  POLYTHEISM. 

fesses  the  superiority  of  the  victorious  God.  The  God 
of  the  conquered  party  becomes  a  Devil,  or  a  strange 
God,  or  a  servant  of  the  controlling  Deity.  Thus  the 
Gibeonites  and  the  Helots  who  once  would  have  been 
sacrificed  to  the  conquering  God,  became  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  to  the  Hebrews  and  the 
Spartans,  and  served  to  develop  the  directly  useful  and 
creative  faculties  of  man.  The  Gods  demand  the  ser- 
vice, not  the  lifeblood  of  the  stranger  and  captive.  No 
doubt  the  anointed  priesthood  opposed  this  refinement 
with  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  and  condemned  such 
as  received  the  blessing  of  men  ready  to  perish.  But  it 
would  not  do.  Samuel  hews  Agag  in  pieces,  though 
Saul  would  have  saved  him  ;  but  the  days  of  Samuel 
also  are  numbered,  and  the  theocratic  power  pales  its 
ineffectual  ray  before  a  rising  light. 

II.  Polytheism  is  the  next  stage  in  the  religious  de- 
velopment of  mankind.  Here  reflection  begins  to  pre- 
dominate over  sensation.  As  the  laws  of  Nature,  the 
habits  and  organization  of  animals,  begin  to  be  under- 
stood, they  cease  to  represent  the  true  object  of  wor- 
ship. No  man  ever  deified  Weight  and  Solidity.  But 
as  men  change  slowly  from  form  to  form,  and  more 
slowly  still  from  the  form  to  the  substance,  coarse  and 
material  Fetichism  must  be  idealized  before  it  could 
pass  away.  No  doubt  men,  for  the  sake  of  example, 
bowed  to  the  old  stock  and  stone  when  they  knew  an 
idol  was  nothing.  It  might  offend  the  weak  to  give  up 
the  lie  all  at  once. 

Polytheism  is  the  worship  of  many  Gods  without  the 
worship  of  animals.  It  may  be  referred  to  two  sources, 
worship  of  the  Powers  of  material  nature,  and  of  the 
Powers  of  spiritual  nature.     Its  history  is  that  of  a  con 


POLYTHEISM.  63 

flict  between  the  two.^  In  the  earhest  epoch  of  Greek 
Polytheism,  the  former  prevails;  the  latter  at  a  subse- 
quent period.  The  early  deities  are  children  of  the 
Earth,  the  Sky,  the  Ocean.  These  objects  themselves 
are  Gods.^  In  a  word,  the  Saturnian  Gods  of  the  older 
mythology  are  deified  powers  of  Nature :  but  in  the 
mythology  of  the  later  philosophers,  it  is  absolute 
spiritual  power,  that  rules  the  world  from  the  top  of 
Olympus,  and  the  subordinate  deities  are  the  spiritual 
faculties  of  Man  personified  and  embellished.^  Matter, 
no  longer  worshipped,  is  passive,  powerless,  and  dishon- 
ored. The  animals  are  driven  off  from  Olympus.  Man 
is  idealized  and  worshipped.  The  Supreme  wears  the 
personality  of  men.  Anthropomorphism  takes  the  place 
of  a  deification  of  Nature.  The  popular  Gods  are  of 
the  same  origin  as  their  worshippers,  born,  nursed,  bred, 
but  immortal  and  not  growing  old.^  They  are  married 
like  men  and  women,  and  become  parents.     They  pre- 

*  In  what  relates  to  tMs  subject,  I  shall  consider  Polytheism  as  it 
appeared  to  the  great  mass  of  its  votaries.  Its  most  obvious  phenom- 
ena are  the  most  valuable.  Some,  as  Bryant,  take  the  speculations 
of  naturalists  and  make  it  only  a  system  of  Physics :  others,  as  Cud- 
worth,  following  the  refinements  -of  later  philosophers,  would  prove  it 
to  be  a  system  of  Monotheism  in  disguise.  But  to  the  mass,  Apollo 
was  not  the  Sun,  nor  the  beautiful  influence  of  God,  whatsoever  he 
might  appear  to  the  mystic  sage. 

^  Juhus  Firmicus  maintains  that  the  heathen  deities  were  simply 
deified  natural  objects.  De  Errore  prof.  Religionum,  Ch.  I.-V. 
But  Clement  of  Alexandria,  more  wisely  refers  them  to  seven  dis- 
tinct sources.  Cohortatio  ad  Gentes,  0pp.  I.  ed.  Potter,  p.  21,  22. 
Earth  and  Heaven  are  the  oldest  Gods  of  Greece. 

^  See  for  example  the  contest  of  Eros  and  Anacreon,  Carm.  XIV. 
p.  18,  19,  ed.  Mobius. 

*  See  Heyne,  Excursus  VIII.  in  Hiad,  I.  494,  p.  189.     Hegel,  Phi 
losophie  der  Rel.  Vol.  H.  p.  96-141.      Werke,  Vol.  XII.     Pindar, 
Nem.  VI.  1,  et  seq.     Olymp.  XH.  et  seq.,  etc. 


64  POLYTHEISM. 

side  over  each  department  of  Nature,  and  each  province 
of  art.i  Pluto  rules  over  the  abodes  of  the  departed  ; 
Neptune  over  the  ocean  ;  Jove  over  the  land  and  sky. 
One  Divinity  wakes  the  olive  and  the  corn,  another  has 
charge  of  the  vine.  One  guides  the  day  from  his  char- 
iot with  golden  wheels.  A  sister  Deity  walks  in  bright- 
ness through  the  nocturnal  sky.  A  fountain  in  the 
shade,  a  brook  leaping  adown  the  hills,  or  curling 
through  the  plains  ;  a  mountain  walled  with  savage 
rocks ;  a  sequestered  vale  fringed  with  romantic  trees, 

—  each  was  the  residence  of  a  God.  Demons  dwelt  in 
dark  caves,  and  shook  the  woods  at  night  with  hideous 
rout,  breaking  even  the  cedars.     They  sat  on  the  rocks 

—  fair  virgins  above  the  water,  but  hideous  shapes  be- 
low —  to  decoy  sailors  to  their  destruction.  The  mys- 
terious sounds  of  Nature,  the  religious  music  of  the 
wind  playing  among  the  pines,  at  eventide,  or  stirring 
the  hot  palm  tree  at  noonday,  was  the  melody  of  the 
God  of  sound S.2  A  beautiful  form  of  man  or  woman 
was  a  shrine  of  God.^    The  storms  had  a  deity.    Witches 


^  See  Aristotle,  Metapliysica,  0pp.  ed.  Baker;  Oxford,  1837.  VIU. 
Lib.  XL  §  8,  p.  233,  et  seq.  In  the  old  Pelasgic  Polytheism,  it  seema 
there  were  no  proper  names  for  the  individual  Gods.  The  general 
term  Gods  was  all.  Herodotus,  Lib.  II.  ch.  52,  0pp.  ed.  Baehr.  I.  p. 
606,  et  seq.  Plato  mentions  the  two  classes  of  Gods,  one  derived 
from  the  worship  of  Nature^  the  other  from  that  of  man.  Legg.  Lib. 
XI.  0pp.  ed.  Ast.  Vn.  p.  344.  See  Plutarch  cited  in  Eusebius,  P. 
E.  III.  1,  p.  57,  Vers.  Lat. ;  ed.  1579. 

^  See  the  beautiful  lines  of  Wordsworth,  Excursion  ;  Boston,  1824, 
Book  IV.  p.  159,  et  seq.  See  also  Creutzer,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p. 
8-29. 

^  See  Herodotus,  V.  47,  The  Greeks  erected  an  altar  on  the  grave 
of  Philippos,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Greeks,  and  offered  sacrifice. 
See  Wachsmuth,  Antiquities  of  Greece,  Vol.  H.  2,  p.  315,  on  the 
general  adoration  of  Beauty  amongst  the  Greeks.     Hegel  calls  this 


POLYTHEISM.  65 

rode  the  rack  of  night.  A  God  offended  roused  nations 
to  war,  or  drove  Ulysses  over  many  lands.  A  pesti- 
lence, drought,  famine,  inundation,  an  army  of  locusts 
was  the  special  work   of  a  God.^      No  ship  is  called 


worship  the  Religion  of  Beauty.     Phil,  der  Religion,  Vol.  11.  p.  96,  et 
seq.     National  character  marks  the  religious  form. 

^  A  disease  was  sometimes  personified  and  worshipped,  as  Fever  at 
Rome.  See  iElian,  Var.  Hist.  XII.  11,  p.  734,  et  seq.  ed.  Gronovius. 
Valerius  Maximus,  Lib.  II.  Ch.  V.  6,  Vol.  I.  p.  126,  et  seq.  ed.  Hase. 
Some  say  a  certain  ruin  at  Tivoli  is  the  remnant  of  a  Temple  to 
Tussis,  a  cough.  Cicero  speaks  of  a  temple  to  Fever  on  the  Pala- 
tine. Nat.  Deorum,  III.  15,  0pp.  ed.  Lemaire,  XII.  p.  333^  where 
see  the  note.  Nero  erected  a  monument  to  the  Manes  of  a  crystal 
vase  that  got  broken.  Temples  were  erected  to  Shame  and  Impu- 
dence^ Fear^  Death,  Laughter,  and  Gluttony,  among  the  Heathen,  as 
shrines  to  the  Saints  among  Christians.  Pausanias,  Lib.  IV.  Ch. 
XVn.  says,  the  Athenians  alone  of  all  the  Greeks  had  a  Temple  for 
Modesty  and  Mercy.  See,  however,  the  ingenious  remark  of  Cousin, 
Journal  des  Savans,  March,  1835,  p.  136,  et  seq.  and  Creutzer's  ani- 
madversions thereon,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p.  135-6.  Brouwer,  Vol.  I.  p. 
357.  In  India,  each  natural  object  is  the  seat  of  a  God.  But  in 
Greece  the  worship  of  nature  passed  into  the  higher  form.  See  some 
fanciful  remarks  of  Hermann  on  the  most  ancient  mythology  of  the 
Greeks  in  his  Opuscula,  Vol.  II.  p.  167.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that 
some  of  the  old  Polytheistic  theogonies  spoke  of  a  gradual  and  pro- 
gressive development  of  the  Gods  ;  the  creator  keeps  even  pace  with  the 
creation.  The  explanation  of  a  fact  so  singular  as  the  self-contradic- 
tory opinion  that  the  Infinite  is  not  always  the  same,  may  be  found  in 
the  history  of  human  conceptions  of  God,  for  these  are  necessarily 
progressive.  See  Aristotle,  Metaphysica,  XIV.  p.  1000,  et  seq.  0pp. 
II.  ed.  Duval;  Par.  1629.  See  Hesiod's  Theogony  everywhere,  and 
note  the  progress  of  the  divine  species  from  Chaos  and  Earth,  to  the 
moral  divinities,  Eunomia,  Dike,  Eirene,  etc.  In  some  of  the  Orien- 
tal theogonies,  the  rule  was  inverted,  the  first  emanation  was  t'j.Q  best. 
See  Warton,  History  of  EngUsh  Poetry;  Lond.  1824,  Vol.  I.  Pref.  by 
the  Editor. 

6* 


66  POLYTHEISM. 

by    the    name    of    Glaucus    because    he    offended    a 
deity.i 

Arts  also  have  their  patron  divinity.  Phoebus- Apollo 
inspires  the  Poet  and  Artist ;  the  Muses  —  Daughters 
of  Memory  and  Jove  —  fire  the  bosom  from  their  golden 
urn  of  truth  ;  ^  Thor,  Ares,  Mars,  have  power  in  war  ;  a 
sober  virgin-goddess  directs  the  useful  arts  of  life ;  a 
deity  presides  over  agriculture,  the  labors  of  the  smith, 
the  shepherd,  the  weaver,  and  each  art  of  Man.  He 
defends  men  engaged  in  these  concerns.  Every  nation, 
city,  or  family  has  its  favorite  God  —  a  Zeus,  Athena, 
Juno,  Odin,  Baal,  Jehovah,  Osiris,  or  Melkartha,  who 
is  supposed  to  be  partial  to  the  nation  which  is  his 
"  chosen  people."  Now  perhaps  no  nation  ever  believed 
in  many  separate,  independent,'  absolute  deities.  All 
the  Gods  are  not  of  equal  might.  One  is  King  of  all, 
the  God  of  Gods,  who  holds  the  others  with  an  iron 
sway.  Sometimes  he  is  the  All-Father  ;  sometimes  the 
All-Fate,  which,  in  some  ages,  seems  to  be  made  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  one  true  God.^     Each  nation  thinks  its 

^  Herodotus,  Lib.  VI.  8G,  relates  the  beautiful  story  of  Glaucus,  so 
full  of  moral  truth.  Compare  with  it,  Zechariah  V.  3-4,  Job  XV. 
20,  et  seq.  XVIII.  et  seq.  where  the  same  beautiful  and  natural  senti- 
ment appears. 

^  See  the  strange  pantheistic  account  of  the  origin  and  history  of 
Gods  and  all  things  in  the  Orphic  poems  and  Mythology.  These  have 
been  collected  and  treated  of  with  great  discrimination  by  Lobeck, 
Aglaophamus,  Vol.  I.  p.  473,  et  seq.  See  the  more  summary  account 
in  Brandis,  Geschichte  der  Philosophic,  Vol.  I.  p.  60,  et  seq.  There 
are  some  valuable  thoughts  in  Creutzer's  Review  of  the  new  edition 
of  Cornutus,  De  Nat.  Dcorum,  in  Theol.  Stud,  und  Kritiken  fiir  1846, 
p.  208  et  seq. 

'  Men  must  believe  in  somewhat  that  to  them  is  Absolute  ;  if  their 
conception  of  the  Deity  be  imperfect,  they  unavoidably  retreat  to  a 
somewhat  Superior  to  the  Deity.     Thus  for  every  defect  in  the  popu- 


POLYTHEISM.  67 

own  chief  God  greater  than  the  Gods  of  all  other  na- 
tions ;  or,  in  time  of  war,  seeks  to  seduce  the  hostile 
Gods  by  sacrifice,  promise  of  temples  and  ceremonies, 
a  pilgrimage  or  a  vow.  Thus  the  Romans  invoked  the 
Gods  of  their  enemy  to  come  out  of  the  beleagured 
city,  and  join  with  them,  the  conquerors  of  the  world. 
The  Gods  were  to  be  had  at  a  bargain.  Jacob  drives  a 
trade  with  Elohim ;  the  God  receives  a  human  service 
as  adequate  return  for  his  own  divine  service.^  The 
promise  of  each  is  only  "  for  value  received." 

In  this  stage  of  religious  development  each  Deity 
does  not  answer  to  the  Idea  of  God,  as  mentioned 
above  ;  it  is  not  the  Being  of  infinite  power,  wisdom, 
and  love.  Neither  the  Zeus  of  the  Iliad,  nor  the  Elo- 
him of  Genesis,  nor  the  Jupiter  of  the  Pharsalia,  nor 
even  the  Jehovah  of  the  Jewish  Prophets  is  always  this. 
A  transient  and  complex  conception  takes  the  place  of 
the  eternal  Idea  of  God.  Hence  his  limitations  ;  those 
of  a  man.  Jehovah  is  narrow ;  Zeus  is  licentious ; 
Hermes  will  lie  and  steal ;  Juno  is  a  shrew.^ 

The  Gods  of  polytheistic  nations  are  in  part  deified 
men.^     The   actions   of  many   men,  of   different    ages 

lar  conception  of  Zeus,  some  new  power  is  added  to  Fate.  "  It  is 
impossible  even  for  God  to  escape  Fate,"  said  Herodotus.  See  also 
Cudworth,  Ch.  I.  §  1-3,  Zenoplianes  makes  a  sharp  distinction  be- 
tween God  and  the  Gods.  See  in  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  Y.  p.  601,  and 
the  remarks  of  Brandis,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p.  361,  et  seq.  note.  See 
also  Vol.  II.  p.  340,  et  seq.  See  too  Cornutus  (or  Phumutus) 
De  Nat.  Deorum  in  Gale,  Opusc.  mythologica,  etc. ;  Amst.,  1688. 

1  Genesis  XXVIII.  10-22. 

^  Sermons  of  Theism,  etc.       Sermon  III.  and  IV. 

^  Tertullian,  De  Anima,  Ch.  33.  See  Meiners,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p. 
290,  et  seq.  Pindar,  Olymp.  II.  68,  et  seq.  ed.  Dissen.  and  his  re- 
marks. Vol.  II.  p.  36,  et  seq.  This  Anthropomorphism  took  various 
forms  in  Greece,  Egypt,  and  India.     In  the  former  it  was  the  elevation 


68  POLYTHEISM. 

and  countries,  are  united  into  one  man's  achievement, 
and  we  have  a  Hercules,  or  an  Apollo,  a  thrice-great 
Hermes,  a  Jupiter,  or  an  Odin.  The  inventors  of  use- 
ful arts,  as  agriculture,  navigation ;  of  the  plough,  the 
loom,  laws,  fire  and  letters,  subsequently  became  Gods. 
Great  men,  wise  men,  good  men,  were  honored  while 
living ;  they  are  deified  when  they  decease.  As  they 
judged  or  governed  the  living  once,  so  now  the  dead 
Their  actions  are  idealized  ;  the  good  lives  after  them  ; 
their  faults  are  buried.  Statues,  altars,  temples  are 
erected  to  them.  He  who  was  first  honored  as  a  man, 
is  now  worshipped  as  a  God.^  To  these  personal  deities 
are  added  the  attributes  of  the  old  Fetiches,  and  still 
more  the  powers  of  Nature.  The  attributes  of  the 
moon,  the  sun,  the  lightning,  the  ocean,  or  the  stars  are 
transferred  to  a  personal  being,  conceived  as  a  man.  To 
be  made  strong  he  is  made  monstrous,  with  many  hands, 
or  heads.  In  a  polytheistic  nation,  if  we  trace  the  his- 
tory of  the  popular  conception  of  any  God,  that  of  Zeus 
among  the  Grecians,  for  example,  we  see  a  gradual  ad- 
vance, till  their  highest  God  becomes  their  conception 
of  the  Absolute.  Then  the  others  are  insignificant ;  mere- 
ly his  servants  ;  like  colonels  and  corporals  in  an  army, 
they  are  parts  of  his  state  machinery.  The  passage  to 
Monotheism   is  then   easy.^     The   spiritual  leaders  of 

of  a  man  to  the  Gods ;  in  tlie  latter  the  descent  of  a  God  to  man.  This 
feature  of  Oriental  worship  furnishes  a  fruitful  hint  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation^  and  its  value.  The  doctrine  of  some 
Christians  unites  the  two,  in  the  God-man. 

^  See  the  origin  of  Idolatry  laid  down  in  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  Ch. 
XIV.  17-19.     Warburton,  Divine  Legation,  Book  V.  §  II.  [III.] 

2  There  are  two  strongly  marked  tendencies  in  all  polytheistic 
relio^ions  —  one  towards  pure  Monotheism,  the  other  to  Pantheism. 
See  an  expression  of  the  latter  in  Orpheus,  ed.  Hermann,  p.  457, 


THE  PRIESTHOOD   UNDER   POLYTHEISM.  69 

every  nation,  —  obedient  souls  into  whom  the  spirit 
enters  and  makes  them  Sons  of  God  and  prophets,  — 
see  the  meaning  which  the  popular  notion  hides ;  they 
expose  what  is  false,  proclaim  the  eternal  truth,  and  as 
their  recompense,  are  stoned,  exiled,  or  slain.  But  the 
march  of  mankind  is  over  the  tombs  of  the  prophets. 
The  world  is  saved  only  by  crucified  redeemers.  The 
truth  is  not  silenced  with  Aristotle ;  nor  exiled  with 
Anaxagoras ;  nor  slain  with  Socrates.  It  enters  the 
soul  of  its  veriest  foes,  and  their  children  build  up  the 
monuments  of  the  murdered  Seer. 

We  cannot  enter  into  the  feelings  of  a  polytheist; 
nor  see  how  Morality  was  fostered  by  his  religion. 
Ours  would  be  a  similar  puzzle  to  him.  But  Poly- 
theism has  played  a  great  part  in  the  development  of 
mankind  —  yes,  in  the  development  of  Morality  and 
Religion.  ^  Its  aim  was  to  "  raise  a  mortal  to  the 
skies ; "  to  infinitize  the  finite  ;  to  bridge  over  the 
great  gulf  between  Man  and  God.  Let  us  look 
briefly  at  some  of  its  features. 

I.  In  Polytheism  we  find  a  regular  priesthood.  This 
is  sometimes  exclusive  and  hereditary,  as  in  Egypt  and 
India,  where  it  establishes  castes,  and  founds  a  theoc- 
racy ;  sometimes  not  hereditary,  but  open,  free,  as  in 
Greece.^     When  "  every  clove  of  garlic  is  a  God,"  as 

"  Zeus  is  the  first,  Zeus  the  last,"  etc.  etc.,  cited  also  in  Cudworth,  ubi 
sup.  Vol  I.  p.  404.  See  Zeno,  in  Diogenes  Laertlus,  ed.  Hiibner, 
Lib.  YH.  Ch.  73,  Vol.  II.  p.  186,  et  seq. ;  Clemens  Alexand.  Stromat 
VII.  12.  See  also  Cudworth,  Ch.  IV.  §  17,  et  seq.,  and  Mosheim's 
Annotations. 

^  M.  Comte  thinks  this  the  period  of  the  greatest  religious  activity ! 
The  facts  look  the  other  way. 

^  Even  in  Greece  some  sacerdotal  functions  vested  by  descent  in 
certain  families,  for  example,  in  the  lambides,  Branchides,  Eumolpides, 


70  THE   PRIESTHOOD 

in  Fetichism,  each. man  is  his  own  priest;  but  when  a 
troop  of  Fetiches  are  condensed  into  a  single  God,  and 
he  is  invisible,  all  cannot  have  equal  access  to  him,  for 
he  is   not  infinite,  but  partial ;  chooses  his  own  place 
and  time.     Some  mediator,  therefore,  must  stand  be- 
tween  the    God   and   common    men.^     This  was   the 
function   of    the    priest.      Perhaps   his    office   became 
hereditary  at  a  very  early  period,  for  as  we  trace  back- 
ward the  progress  of  mankind,  the  law  of  inheritance 
has  a  wider  range.     The  priesthood,  separated  from  the 
actual   cares    of  war,    and    of    providing   for    material 
wants  —  the  two  sole  departments  of   human  activity 
in  a   barbarous  age  —  have  leisure  to  study  the  will  of 
the  Gods.     Hence  arises  a  learned  class,  who  gradually 
foster   the    higher   concerns    of   mankind.      The    effort 
to  learn   the   will  of  the   Gods,  leads  to  the  study  of 
Nature,   and    therefore   to    Science.     The    attempt   to 
please  them  by  images,  ceremonies,  and  the  like,  leads 
to  architecture,  statues,  music,  poetry,  and  hymns  —  to 
the  elegant   arts.     The  priesthood   fostered   all   these. 
It  took  different  forms  to  suit  the  genius  of  different 
nations ;    established    castes    and    founded    the    most 
odious  despotism  in  Egypt  and  the  East,  and  perhaps 
the  North,  but  in  Greece  left  public  opinion  compara- 
tively free.     In  the  one,  change  of  opinion  was  violent 

Asclepiades,  Cerycides,  Clitiades.  See  them  in  Wachsmuth,  Vol.  I. 
P.  I.  p.  152.  See  Grimm,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  Ch.  V.  Meiners 
Vol.  U.  Book  XII. ;  Brouwer,  Vol.  I. 

^  See  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Lois,  Liv.  XXV.  Ch.  IV.  See 
Priestley's  Comparison  of  the  Institutions  of  Moses  with  those  of  the 
Hindoos,  etc.;  Northumberland,  1799,  §  X.  for  the  esteem  in  which 
the  sacerdotal  class  was  held  in  India.  Brouwer,  Vol.  III.  Ch.  XVIII., 
XIX.  Also  Von  Bohlen,  Das  alte  Indien,  Vol.  I.  p.  45,  et  seq. 
Vol.  II.p.  12,  etseq. 


UNDER  POLYTHEISM.  71 

and  caused  commotion,  as  the  fabled  Giant  buried 
under  iEtna  shakes  the  island  when  he  turns ;  in  the 
other  it  was  natural,  easy  as  for  Endymion  to  turn  the 
other  cheek  to  the  Moon.  Taken  in  the  whole,  it  has 
been  a  heavy  rider  on  the  neck  of  the  nations.  Its 
virtue  has  been,  in  a  rude  age  to  promote  Science,  Art, 
Patriotism,  Piety  to  the  Gods,  and  in  a  certain  fashion. 
Love  to  men.  But  its  vice  has  been  to  grasp  at  the 
throat  of  mankind,  control  their  thoughts  and  govern 
their  life,  aspiring  to  be  the  Will  of  the  World.  When 
it  has  been  free,  as  in  the  philosophic  age  in  Greece, 
its  influence  has  been  deep,  silent,  and  unseen;  blessed 
and  beautiful.  But  when  it  is  hereditary  and  exclusive, 
it  preserves  the  form,  ritual,  and  creed  of  barbarous 
times  in  the  midst  of  civilization  ;  separates  Morality 
from  Religion,  life  from  belief,  good  sense  from  theol- 
ogy ;  demands  horrible  sacrifices  of  the  body,  or  the 
soul;  and,  like  the  angry  God  in  the  old  Pelasgic  fable, 
chains  for  eternal  damnation  the  bold  free  spirit  which, 
learning  the  riddle  of  the  world,  brings  down  the  fire 
of  Heaven  to  bless  poor  mortal  men.  It  were  useless 
to  quote  examples  of  the  influence  of  the  priesthood. 
It  has  been  the  burthen  of  Fate  upon  the  human  race. 
Each  age  has  its  Levites  ;  instruments  of  cruelty  are 
in  their  habitations.  In  many  nations  their  story  is  a 
tale  of  blood ;  the  tragedy  of  Sin  and  Woe.i 

II.  In  the  polytheistic  period,  war  is  a  normal  state 

^  See  the  one-sided  view  of  Constant,  which  pervades  his  entire 
work  on  Religion.  See  his  Essay  on  the  "  Progressive  Development 
of  Religious  Ideas,"  in  Riplej-'s  Philosophical  IMiscellanies,  Vol.  II.  p. 
292,  et  seq.  Virgil,  in  liis  description  of  the  Elysian  fields,  assigns 
the  first  place  to  Legislators^  the  magnanimous  Heroes,  who  civilized 
mankind ;  the  next  to  Patriots,  and  the  third  to  Priests.  Aen.  VI. 
661,  et  seq. 


72  WAR  IN   POLYTHEISM. 

and  almost  constant.  Religion  then  unites  men  of  the 
same  ti'ibe  and  nation  ;  but  severs  one  people  from 
another.  The  Gods  are  hostile ;  Jehovah  and  Baal 
cannot  agree.  Their  worshippers  must  bite  and  devour 
one  another.  It  is  high  treason  for  a  citizen  to  commu- 
nicate the  form  of  the  national  Religion  to  a  foreigner  ; 
Jehovah  is  a  jealous  God.  Strangers  are  sacrificed  in 
Tauris  and  Egypt,  and  the  captives  in  war  put  to  death 
at  the  command  of  the  Priest.  But  war  at  that  period 
had  also  a  civilizing  influence.  It  was  to  the  ancient 
world  what  Trade  is  to  modern  times  :  another  form 
of  the  same  selfishness.  It  was  the  chief  method  of 
extending  a  nation's  influence.  The  remnant  of  the 
conquered  nation  was  added  to  the  victorious  empire ; 
became  its  slaves,  or  tributaries,  and  at  last  shared  its 
civilization,  adding  the  sum  of  its  own  excellence  to 
the  moral  treasury  of  its  master.  Conquered  Greece 
gave  Arts  and  Philosophy  to  Rome  ;  the  exiled  Jews 
brought  back  from  Babylon  the  great  doctrine  of  eternal 
life.  The  Goths  conquered  Rome,  but  Roman  Chris- 
tianity subdued  the  Goths.  Religion,  allied  with  the 
fiercest  animal  passions,  demanded  war;  this  led  to 
science.  It  was  soon  seen  that  one  head  which  thinks 
is  worth  a  hundred  hands.  Science  elevates  the  mass 
of  men,  they  perceive  the  folly  of  bloodshed,  and  its 
sin.  Thus  War,  by  a  fatal  necessity,  digs  its  own  grave. 
The  art  of  production  surpasses  the  art  to  destroy.^ 

All  the  wars   of  polytheistic  nations  have  more  or 
less    a   religious    character.       Their  worship,  however, 

^  M.  Montgery,  a  French  Captain,  touchingly  complains  "  that  tlie 
art  to  destroy,  though  the  easiest  of  all  from  its  very  nature,  is  now 
much  less  advanced  than  the  art  of  production,  in  spite  of  the 
superior  difficulty  of  the  latter."  Quoted  in  Comte,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  V. 
p.  167. 


SLAVERY   IN   POLYTHEIvSM.  *      73 

favored  less  the  extermination  of  enemies  than  their 
subjugation,  while  Monotheism,  denying  the  existence 
of  ali  deities  but  one,  when  it  is  superinduced  upon  a 
nation,  in  a  rude  state,  like  Fetichism  itself,  butchers 
its  captives,  as  the  Jews,  the  Mahometans,  and  the 
Christians  have  often  done  —  a  sacrifice  to  the  blood- 
thirsty phantom  they  call  a  God.^  In  the  ruder  stages 
of  Polytheism,  war  is  the  principal  occupation  of  men. 
The  Military  and  the  Priestly  powers,  strength  of  Body 
and  strength  of  Thought,  are  the  two  Scales  of  Society ; 
Science  and  Art  are  chiefly  devoted  to  kill  men  and 
honor  the  Gods.  The  same  weapons  which  conquer 
the  spoil,  sacrifice  it  to  the  Deity .^ 

III.  But  as  Polytheism  leads  men  to  spare  the  life  of 
the  captive,  so  it  leads  to  a  demand  for  his  service. 
Slavery,  therefore,  like  war,  comes  unavoidably  from 
this  form  of  Religion,  and  the  social  system  which 
grows  out  of  it  At  this  day,  under  the  influence  of 
Monotheism,  we  are  filled  with  deep  horror  at  the 
thought  of  one  man  invading  the  personality  of  another, 
to  make  him  a  thing  —  a  slave.  The  flesh  of  a  re- 
ligious man  creeps  at  the  thought  of  it.  But  yet 
slavery  was  an  indispensable  adjunct  of  this  rough 
form  of  society.  Between  that  Fetichism  which  bade 
a  man  slay  his  captive,  eating  his  body  and  drinking 
his  blood  as  indispensable  elements  of  his  communion 
with  God,  and  that  Polytheism  which  only  makes  him 
a  slave,  there  is  a  great  gulf  which  it  required  long  cen- 

*  Here  is  the  explanation  of  the  given  facts  collected  by  Daumer 
and  others. 

^  M.  Comte,  Vol.  V.  p.  165,  et  seq.,  has  some  valuable  remarks  on 
this  stage  of  human  civilization.  See  also  Vico,  Scienza  nuova,  Bib. 
II.  Cap.  I.-IV. 

7 


74  SLAVERY   IN   POLYTHEISM. 

turies   to  fill  up  and  pass    over.      Anger  slowly  gave 
place  to  Interest ;  perhaps  to   Mercy.       Without  this 
change,  with   the  advance   of  the  art  to    destroy,   the 
human  race  must  have  perished.     By  means  of  slavery 
the  art  of  production  was  advanced.     The    Gibeonite 
and   the    Helot   must  work    and  not  fight.     Thus  by 
forced  labor,  the  repugnance  against  work  which  is  so 
powerful   among  the    barbarous    and   half-civilized,    is 
overcome  ;  systematic  industry  is  developed  ;  the  human 
race  is  helped  forward  in  this  mysterious  way.     Both 
the  theocratic   and  the  military  caste   demanded  a  ser- 
vile class,  inseparable  from  the  spirit  of  barbarism,  and 
the  worship   of  many  Gods,  which   falls  as  that  spirit 
dies  out,  and  the  recognition  of  one  God,  Father  of  all, 
drives  selfishness  out  of  the  heart.     In  an  age  of  Poly- 
theism,   Slavery  and    War  were  in  harmony  with  the 
institutions  of  society  and  the  spirit  of  the  age.     Mur- 
der and  Cannibalism,  two  other  shoots  from  the  same 
stock,  had  enjoyed  their  day.     All  are  revolting  to  the 
spirit  of  Monotheism  ;  at  variance  with  its  idea  of  life; 
uncertain  and  dangerous;  monstrous  anomalies  full  of 
deadly  peril.     The  Priesthood  of  Polytheism  —  like  all 
castes  based  on   a  lie  —  upheld   the  system   of  slavery, 
which  rested  on  the  same  foundation  with  itself.     The 
slavery  of    sacerdotal  governments  is  more  oppressive 
and  degrading  than   that  of  a  military  despotism.     It 
binds  the  Soul  —  makes   distinctions  in  the   nature  of 
men.     The   Prophet  would  free   men  ;  but  the   Priest 
enslaves.     As    Polytheism    does    its    work,    and    Man 
develops  his  nature  higher  than  the  selfish,  the  condi- 
tion of  the  slave  is  made  better.    It  becomes  a  religious 
duty  to  free  the  bondsmen  at  their  master's  death,  as 
formerly  the  priests  had   burned   them  on   his  funeral 
pile,  or  buried  them  alive  in  his  tomb  to  attend  him  in 


SLAVERY   IN   POLYTHEISM.  75 

the  realm  of  shades.^  Just  as  civilization  advanced 
and  the  form  of  Religion  therewith,  it  was  found 
difficult  to  preserve  the  institution  of  ancient  crime, 
which  sensuality  and  sin  clung  to  and  embraced.^ 

1  See,  who  "will,  the  minghng  of  profound  and  superficial  remarks 
on  this  subject  in  Montesquieu,  ubi  sup. ;  Liv.  XV.  Grotius,  De  jure 
Belli  ac  Pacis  Lib.  III.  Ch.  VII.-VIII.  Selden,  De  jure  naturali, 
etc. ;  ed.  1680.  Lib.  L  Ch.  Y.  p.  174,  and  Lib.  VIL  VIIL  XIL  et  al. 
See  the  valuable  treatise  of  Charles  Comte,  Tralte  de  la  Legislation, 
ou  Exposition  des  Lois  generales  suivant  lesquelles  les  Peuples  pros- 
perent,  deperissent  ou  restent  stationaire,  etc.  etc.  3d  ed. ;  Bruxelles, 
1837,  Liv.  V.  the  whole  of  which  is  devoted  to  the  subject  of  slavery 
and  its  influence  in  ancient  and  modern  times.  We  need  only  com- 
pare the  popular  opinion  respecting  slavery  among  the  Jews,  with 
that  of  the  Greeks  or  Romans,  in  their  best  days,  to  see  the  influences 
of  Monotheism  and  Polytheism  in  regard  to  this  subject.  See  some 
remarks  on  the  Jewish  slavery  in  Michaelis's  Laws  of  Moses.  Slavery 
in  the  East  has  in  general  been  of  a  much  milder  character  than  in 
any  other  portion  of  the  world.  Wolf  somewhere  says  the  Greeks 
received  this  relic  of  barbarism  from  the  Asiatics.  If  so,  they  made 
the  evil  institution  worse  than  they  found  it.  According  to  Burck- 
hardt,  it  exists  in  a  very  mild  form  among  the  Mahometans,  every- 
where. Of  course  his  remarks  do  not  apply  to  the  Turks,  the  most 
cruel  of  Mussulmen.  Perhaps  no  code  of  ancient  laws  (to  say  noth- 
ing of  modern  legislation)  was  more  humane  than  the  Jewish  in  this 
respect. 

-  See  Comte,  Phil,  positive.  Vol.  V.  p.  186,  et  seq.  On  this  sub- 
ject of  slavery  in  Polytheistic  nations,  see  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall ; 
ed.  Paris,  1840,  Vol.  I.  ch.  II.  p.  37,  et  seq.,  and  the  valuable  notes 
of  Milman  and  Guizot.  For  the  influence  of  Monotheism  on  this 
frightful  evil,  compare  Schlosser,  Geschichte  der  Alten  Welt.  Vol. 
in.  Part  in.  ch.  IX.  §  2,  et  al. ;  in  particular  the  story  of  Paulinus, 
and  Deogratias,  p.  284,  et  seq.  and  p.  334,  et  seq.  p.  427,  et  seq. ;  and 
compare  it  with  the  conduct  of  Cato,  (as  given  by  Plutarch,  Life  of 
Cato  the  Censor,  and  Sclilosser,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  Part  II.  p.  189,  et 
seq.  Charles  Comte,  ubi  sup.  Liv.  V.)  and  alas,  with  the  conduct  of 
the  American  Government  and  the  commercial  churches  of  our  large 
towns  in  1850  -  55. 


76  TEMPORAL   AND    SPIRITUAL   POWER. 

IV.  Another  striking  feature  of  polytheistic  influ- 
ence, was  the  union  of  power  over  the  Body,  with 
power  over  the  Soul ;  the  divine  right  to  prescribe 
actions  and  prohibit  thoughts.  This  is  the  fundamen- 
tal principle  of  all  theocracies.  The  Priests  were  the 
speculative  class;  their  superior  knowledge  was  natural 
power  ;  superstition  in  the  people  and  selfishness  in  the 
Priest,  converted  that  power  into  despotic  tyranny. 
The  military  were  the  active  caste  ;  superior  strength 
and  skill  gave  them  also  a  natural  power.  But  he  who 
alone  in  an  age  of  barbarism  can  foretell  an  eclipse,  or 
poison  a  flock  of  sheep,  can  subdue  an  army  by  these 
means.  At  an  early  stage  of  polytheism,  we  find  the 
political  subject  to  the  priestly  power.  The  latter  holds 
communion  with  the  Gods,  whom  none  dare  diso- 
bey. Romulus,  ^acus,  Minos,  Moses,  profess  to  re- 
ceive their  laws  from  God.  To  disobey  them,  there- 
fore, is  to  incur  the  wrath  of  the  powers  that  hold  the 
thunder  and  lightning.  Thus  •  manners  and  laws, 
opinions  and  actions  are  subject  to  the  same  external 
authority.  The  theocratic  governor  controls  the  con- 
science and  the  passions  of  the  people.  Thus  the 
radical  evil  arising  from  the  confusion  between  the 
Priests  of  different  Gods,  was  partially  removed,  for 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  power  was  lodged  in  the 
same  hand. 

In  some  nations  the  Priesthood  was  inferior  to  the 
political  power,  as  in  Greece.  Here  the  sacerdotal 
class  held  an  inferior  rank,  from  Homer's  time  to  that 
of  Laertius.^     The  Genius  of  the  nation  demanded  it : 


^  See  Demosthenes,  Cont.  Near.  Ch.  XX.  in  Oratores  Attici ;  Lond 
1828,  Vol.  Vm.  p.  391,  et  se^.  Aristot.  Rep.  m.  14.  0pp.  ed.  Bek 
ker,  X.  p.  87.     See  also   Cesar  Cantu,  Histoire  Universelle ;  Paris, 


WORSHIP   OF   MEN.  77 

accordingly  there  sprang  up  a  body  of  men,  neither 
political,  sacerdotal,  nor  military  —  the  philosophers.^ 
They  could  have  found  no  place  in  any  theocratic  gov- 
ernment but  have  done  the  world  great  religious  service, 
building  "  wiser  than  they  knew."  .  It  was  compara- 
tively easy  for  Art,  Science,  and  all  the  great  works  of 
men,  to  go  forward  under  such  circumstances.  Hence 
comes  that  wonderful  development  of  mind  in  the 
country  of  Homer,  Socrates,  and  Phidias.  But  in 
countries  where  the  temporal  was  subject  to  the  spirit- 
ual power,  the  reverse  followed  ;  there  was  no  change 
without  a  violent  revolution.  The  character  of  the  nation 
becomes  monotonous;  science,  literature,  morals,  cease  to 
improve.  When  the  nation  goes  down,  it  "  falls  like 
Lucifer,  never  to  hope  again."  The  story  of  Samuel 
affords  us  an  instance,  among  the  Jews,  of  the  sacer- 
dotal class,  resisting,  and  successfully,  the  attempt  to 
take  away  its  power.  Here  the  Priest,  finding  there 
must  be  a  King,  succeeded  at  length  in  placing  on  the 
throne  a  "  man  after  God's  own  heart,"  that  is,  one 
who  would  sacrifice  as  the  Priest  allowed.  The  effort 
to  separate  the  temporal  from  the  spiritual  power,  to 
disenthrall  mankind  from  the  tyranny  of  sacerdotal  cor- 
porations, is  one  of  the  great  battles  for  the  souls  of 
the  world.  It  begins  early,  and  continues  long.  The 
contest  shakes  the  earth  in  its  time. 

V.    Another   trait   of  the   polytheistic  period  is  the 

1841-44,  Vol.  I.  ch.  XXVni.-XXIX.;  Constant,  Liv.  V.  ch.  V. 
and  Brouwer's  remarks  thereon,  p.  363,  note. 

^  Perhaps  none  of  the  polytheistic  nations  offers  an  instance  of  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  power  existing  in  separate  hands,  when  one 
party  was  entirely  independent  of  the  other.  The  separation  of  the 
two  was  reserved  for  a  different  age,  and  will  be  treated  of  in  its 

place. 

rr* 


78  WORSHIP   OF   MEN. 

deification  of  men.^  Fetichism  makes  gods  of  cattle 
Polytheism  of  men.  This  exaltation  of  men  exerted 
great  influence  in  the  early  stage  of  polytheism,  when 
it  was  a  real  belief  of  the  people  and  the  priest,  and 
not  a  verbal  form,. as  in  the  decline  of  the  old  worship. 
Stout  hearts  could  look  forward  to  a  wider  sphere  in 
the  untrod  world  of  spirit,  where  they  should  wield  the 
sceptre  of  command,  and  sit  down  with  the  immortal 
Gods,  renewed  in  never  ending  youth.  The  examples 
of  ^acus,  Minos,  Rhadamanthus,  of  Bacchus  and 
Hercules  —  mortals  promoted  to  the  Godhead,  by  merit, 
and  not  birth  —  crowned  the  ambition  of  the  aspiring.^ 
The  kindred  belief  that  the  soul,  dislodged  from  its 
"  fleshly  nook,"  still  had  an  influence  on  the  affairs  of 
men,  and  came,  a  guardian  spirit,  to  bless  mankind, 
was  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  a  rude  state  of  religious 
growth — a  notion  which  has  not  yet  faded  out  of  the 
civilized  world.^  This  worship  seems  unaccountable 
in  our  times ;  but  when  such  men  were  supposed  to 
be  descendants  of  the  Gods,  or  born  miraculously,  and 
sustained  by  superhuman  beings  ;  or  mediators  between 
them  and  the  human  race ;  when  it  was  believed  they 

^  See  Farmer  on  the  Worship  of  Human  Spirits ;  London,  1 783. 
Plutarch,  (Isis  and  Osiris,)  denies  that  human  spirits  were  ever  wor- 
shipped, but  he  is  opposed  by  notorious  facts.  See  Creutzer,  ubi  sup. 
p.  137,  et  seq.  The  deification  of  human  beings,  of  course  implied  a 
belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  human  soul,  and  is  one  of  the  many 
standing  proofs  of  that  behef  See  Heyne's  remarks,  on  Ihad,  XXEH, 
64  and  104.  Vol.  Vm.  p.  368,  378,  et  seq. 

^  Pausanias  touchingly  complains  that  in  his  day  mortals  no  longer 
became  gods.     See  Lib.  VII.   Ch.  2.  0pp.  ed.  Schubert  and  Walz, 

m.  p.  9. 

^  The  Christians  began  at  an  early  age  to  imitate  this,  as  well  as 
other  parts  of  the  old  polytheistic  system.  Eusebius,  P.  E.  XTTT.  1 1 . 
Augustine,  De  Civ.  Dei.  VIIL  27. 


MORALS    OF   POLYTHEISM.  79 

in  life  had  possessed  celestial  powers,  or  were  incarna- 
tions of  some  deity  or  heavenly  spirit,  the  transition  to 
their  Apotheosis  is  less  violent  and  absurd  ;  it  follows 
as  a  natural  result.  The  divine  being  is  more  glorious 
when  he  has  shaken  off  the  robe  of  flesh.i  Certain  it 
is,  this  belief  was  clung  to  with  astonishing  tenacity, 
and,  under .  several  forms,  still  retains  its  place  in  the 
Christian  church.^ 

The  moral  effect  of  Polytheism,  on  the  whole,  is 
difficult  to  understand.  However,  it  is  safe  to  say  it  is 
greater  than  that  of  Fetichism.  The  constant  evil  of 
war  in  public,  and  slavery  in  private ;  the  arbitrary 
character  assigned  to  the  Gods ;  the  influence  of  the 
priesthood,  laying  more  stress  on  the  ritual  and  the 
creed  than  on  the  life  ;  the  exceeding  outwardness  of 
many  popular  forms  of  worship ;  the  constant  separa- 
tion made  between  Religion  and  Morality;  the  indif- 
ference of  the  priesthood,  in  Greece,  their  despotism  in 
India,  —  do  not  offer  a  very  favorable  picture  of  the 
influence  of  Polytheism  in  producing  a  beautiful  life. 
Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  high  tone  of  Morality 
which  pervades  much  of  the  literature  of  Greece,  the 
reverential  piety  displayed  by  poets  and  philosophers, 
and  still  more  the  undeniable  fact  of  characters  in  her 
story,  rarely  surpassed  in  nobleness  of  aim,  and  loftiness 
of  attainment,  —  these  things  lead  to  the  opinion  that 

^  On  this  subject,  see  Meiuers,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  B.  III.  Ch.  I. 
and  n. 

2  See  In  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  Ch.  XLVn.  §  IIL,  the  lament 
of  Serapion  at  the  loss  of  his  concrete  Gods.  But  it  was  only  the 
Avian  notions  that  deprived  him  of  his  finite  God.  Jerome  condemns 
the  Anthropomorphism  of  the  Polytheists  as  stultissimam  hcEresin,  but 
believed  the  divine  incarnation  in  Jesus.  See,  also,  Prudentiua 
Apotheosis,  0pp.  I.  p.  430,  et  seq. ;  London,  1824. 


80  MORALS   OP  POLYTHEISM. 

the  moral  influence  of  this  worship,  when  free  from  the 
shackles  of  a  sacerdotal  caste,  has  been  vastly  under- 
rated by  Christian  scholars.^ 

To  trace  the  connection  between  the  public  virtue 
and  the  popular  theology,  is  a  great  and  difficult 
matter,  not  to  be  attempted  here.  But  this  fact  is 
plain,  that  in  a  rude  state  of  life,  this  connection  is 
slight,  scarce  perceptible  ;  the  popular  worship  repre- 
sents Fear,  Reverence  it  may  be ;  perhaps  a  Hope ;  or 
even  Trust.  But  the  services  it  demands  are  rites  and 
offerings,  not  a  divine  life.  As  civilization  is  advanced, 
Religion  claims  a  more  reasonable  service,  and  we  find 
enlightened  men,  whom  the  spirit  of  God  made  wise, 
demanding  only  a  divine  life  as  an  offering  to  Him. 
Spiritual  men,  of  the  same  elevation,  see  always  the 
same  spiritual  truth.  We  notice  a  gradual  ascent  in 
the  scale  of  moral  ideas,  from  the  time  of  Homer, 
through  Solon,  Theognis,  the  seven  wise  men,  Pindar, 
j^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  and  the  philosophers  of  their  day.^ 
The  philosophers  and  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome 
recommend  Absolute  Goodness  as  the  only  perfect 
service  of  God.     With  them  Sin  is  the  disease  of  the 

^  The  special  influence  of  Polytheism  upon  morals,  differed  with 
the  different  forms  it  assumed.  In  India  it  sometimes  led  to  rigid 
asceticism,  and  lofty  contemplative  quietism ;  in  Eome  to  great  public 
activity  and  manly  vigor ;  in  Greece,  to  a  gay  abandonment  to  the 
natural  emotions ;  in  Persia,  to  ascetic  purity  and  formal  devotion. 
On  this  subject  see  the  curious  and  able,  but  one-sided  and  partial 
treatise  of  Tholuck  on  the  Moral  Influence  of  Heathenism,  in  the 
American  Biblical  Repository,  Vol.  II.  He  has  shown  up  the  dark 
side  of  Heathenism,  but  seems  to  have  no  true  conception  of  ancient 
manners  and  life.  See  Ackermann,  das  Christliche  in  Plato,  etc^ 
Ch.  I.     (See  below,  note  2  and  1) 

-  See  the  proof  of  this  in  Brandis,  Geschichte  der  Philosophie,  Vol 
I.  §  24,  25. 


MORALS    OF   POLYTHEISM.  81 

soul ;  Virtue  is  health ;  a  divine  Life  the  true  good  of 
mankind ;  Perfection  the  aim.  None  have  set  forth 
this  more  ably.^ 

In  the  higher  stages  of  Polytheism,  Man  is  regarded 
as  fallen.  He  felt  his  alienation  from  his  Father.  Re- 
ligion looks  back  longingly  to  the  Golden  Age,  when 
Gods  dwelt  familiar  with  men.  It  seeks  to  restore  the 
links  broken  out  of  the  divine  chain.  Hence  its  sacri- 
fices, and  above  all  its  mysteries,^  both  of  which  were 
often  abused,  and  made  substitutes  for  holiness,  and 
not  symbols  thereof. 

When  War  is  a  normal  state,  and  Slavery  is  com- 
mon, the  condition  of  one  half  the  human  race  is  soon 
told.  Woman  is  a  tool  or  a  toy.  Her  story  is  hitherto 
the  dark  side  of  the  world.  If  a  distinction  be  made 
between  public  morality,  private  morality,  and  domestic 
morality,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  Polytheism  did 
much  for  the  outward  regulation  of  the  two  first,  but 
little  for  the  last.  However,  since  there  were  Gods  that 
watched  over  the  affairs  of  the  household^,  a  limit  was 
theoretically  set  to  domestic  immorality,  spite  of  the 
temptations  which  both  slavery  and  public  opinion 
spread  in  the  way.  When  there  were  Gods,  whose 
special  vocation   was  to  guard  the  craftsmen  of  a  cer- 

^  See,  on  the  moral  culture  of  the  Greeks,  in  special,  Jacobs, 
Vermischte  Schiiften,  Vol.  III.  p.  374.  He  has  perhaps  done  justice 
to  both  sides  of  this  difficult  subject. 

^  Cicero,  De  Legg.  II.  See  on  this  subject  of  the  Mysteries  in 
general,  Lobeck,  Aglaophamus,  sive  de  Theologiae  mysticae  Causis, 
etc..  Pars  III.,  ch.  HI.  IV.  The  mysteries  seem  sometimes  to  have 
offered  beautiful  sjTnhols  to  aid  man  in  returning  to  union  with  the 
Gods.  Warburton,  in  spite  of  his  erroneous  views  has  collected 
much  useful  information  on  this  subject :  Divine  Legation,  Book  II., 
§  IV.  But  he  sometimes  sees  out  of  him  what  existed  only  in 
himself. 


82  MORALS    OF   POLYTHEISM. 

tain  trade,  protect  travellers,  and  defenceless  men , 
when  there  were  general,  never  dying  avengers  of 
wrong,  who  stopped  at  no  goal  but  justice,  —  a  bound 
was  fixed,  in  some  measure,  to  private  oppression. 
Man,  however,  was  not  honored  as  Man.  Even  in 
Plato's  ideal  State,  the  strong  tyrannized  over  the 
weak  ;  human  selfishness  wore  a  bloody  robe ;  Patriot- 
ism was  greater  than  Philanthropy.  The  popular  view 
of  sin  and  holiness  was  low.  It  was  absurd  for  Mercury 
to  conduct  men  to  hell  for  adultery  and  lies.  Heal 
thyself,  the  Shade  might  say.  All  Pagan  antiquity 
offers  nothing  akin  to  our  lives  of  pious  men.^  It  it; 
true,  as  St.  Augustine  has  well  said,  "that  matter 
which  is  now  called  the  Christian  religion,  was  in 
existence  among  the  ancients ;  it  has  never  been  want- 
ing, from  the  beginning  of  the  human  race."  ^  There 
is  but  one  Religion,  and  it  can  never  die  out.  Unques- 
tionably there  were  souls  beautifully  pious,  and  devoutly 
moral,  who  felt  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  their  bosom, 
and  lived  it  'out  in  their  lowly  life.  Still,  it  must  be 
confessed  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  public  Wor- 
ship of  Polytheists  on  public  and  private  virtue,  was 
sadly  weak.^  The  popular  life  is  determined,  in  some 
measure,  by  the  popular  Conception  of  God,  and  that 
was  low,  and  did  not  correspond  to  the  pure  Idea  of 
Him  ;  *  still  the  Sentiment  was  at  its  work. 

'  But  see  in  Plutarch  the  singular  story  of  Thespesius,  his  miraculous 
conversion,  etc.  De  sera  Numinis  Vindicta,  opp.  II.,  Ch.  XXVII. 
p.  563,  et  seq.  ed.  Xylander, 

2  Retract.  1. 13.     See  also  Civ.  Dei.  VIII.  and  Cont.  Acad.  HI.  20. 

^  On  the  influence  of  the  national  cultus,  see  Athenaeus,  Deip- 
nosoph.  Vn.  65,  66.  XIV.  24,  et  al. ;  Homeric  Hymns  I.  vs.  147, 
et  seq. 

*  Plato  is  seldom  surpassed,  in  our  day,  in  his  conception  of  some 
of  the  quahties  of  the  Divine  Being.     He  was  mainly  free  from  that 


MORALS    OF   POLYTHEISM.  83 

But  Worship  was  more  obviously  woven  up  with 
public  life  under  this  form  than  under  that  w^hich  sub- 
sequently took  its  place.  A  wedding  or  a  funeral, 
peace  and  war,  seed-time  and  harvest,  had  each  its 
religious  rite.  It  was  the  mother  of  philosophy,  of 
art,  and  science,  though  like  Saturn  in  the  fable,  she 
sought  to  devour  her  own  children,  and  met  a  similar 
and  well-merited  fate.  Classic  Polytheism  led  to  con- 
tented ness  with  the  world  as  it  was,  and  a  sound  cheer- 
ful enjoyment  of  its  goodness  and  dehght.  Religion 
itself  was  glad  and  beautiful.^  But  its  idea  of  life 
was  little  higher  than  its  fact.  However  that  weakish 
cant  and  snivelling  sentimentality  of  worship,  which 
disgrace  our  day,  were  unknown  at  that  stage.^  The 
popular  faith  oscillated  between  "Unbelief  and  Super- 
stition. Plato  wisely  excluded  the  mythological  poets 
from  his  ideal  commonwealth.  The  character  of  the 
Gods  as  it  was  painted  by  the  popular  mythology  of 
Egypt,  Greece,  and  India,  Uke  some  of  the  legends  of 
the  Old  Testament,  served  to  confound  moral  distinc- 
tions,  and   encourage    crime.      Polytheists   themselves 

anthropomorpliitic  tendency  which  Christians  have  derived  from  the 
ruder  portions  of  the  Old  Testament.  See  Rep.  Lib.  IV.  passim. 
But  neither  he  nor  Aristotle  —  a  yet  greater  man  —  ever  attained 
the  idea  of  a  God  who  is  the  Author,  or  even  the  Master,  of  the 
material  world.     God  and  Matter  were  antagonistic  forces,  mutually 

hostile. 

1  See  the  pleasant  remarks  of  Plutarch  on  the  cheerful  character 
of  public  worship,  0pp.  Vol.  II.  p.  1101,  et  seq.  ed.  Xylander. 
Strabo,  Lib.  X.  Ch.  III.  IV.  0pp.  IV.  p.  167,  et  seq.  ed.  Siebenkees 
and  Tschucke. 

2  Many  beautiful  traits  of  Polytheism  may  be  seen  In  Plutarch's 
Moral  Works,  especially  the  treatises  on  Superstition ;  That  It  is  not 
possible  to  live  well  according  to  Epicurus ;  of  Isis  and  Osiris  ;  of  the 
tardy  Vengeance  of  God.  See  the  English  Version;  Lond.  1691,  4 
vols.  8vo. 


84  MORALS    OP   POLYTHEISM. 

confess  it.^  Yet  a  distinction  seems  often  to  have 
been  made  between  the  private  and  the  official  charac- 
ter of  the  deities.  There  was  no  devil,  no  pandemo- 
nium in  ancient  classic  Polytheism  as  in  the  modern 
Church.  Antiquity  has  no  such  disgrace  to  bear. 
Perhaps  the  poetic  fictions  about  the  Gods  were  re- 
garded always  as  fictions,  and  no  more.  Still  this 
influence  must  have  been  pernicious.^  It  would  seem 
at  first  glance,  that  only  strong  intellectual  insight,  or 
great  moral  purity,  or  a  happy  combination  of  external 
circumstances  could  free  men  from  the  evil.  However, 
in  forming  the  morals  of  a  people,  it  is  not  so  much  the 
doctrine  that  penetrates  and  moves  the  nation's  soul, 
as  it  is  the  feeling  of  that  sublimity  which  resides  only 
in  God,  and  of  that  enchanting  loveliness  which  alone 
belongs  to  what  is  filled  with  God.  Isocrates  well  called 
the  mythological  tales  blasphemies  against  the  Gods. 
Aristophanes  exposes  in  public  the  absurdities  which 
were  honored  in  the  recesses  of  the  temples.  The  priest- 
hood in  Greece  has  no  armor  of  offence  against  ridicule.^ 
But  goodness  never  dies  out  of  man's  heart. 

^  Xenophanes,  a  contemporary  of  Pythagoras,  censures  Homer  and 
Hesiod  for  their  narratives  of  the  Gods,  miputing  to  them  what  it  was 
shameful  for  a  man  to  think  of.  See  Karsten,  Phil.  vett.  Rehquia, 
Vol.  I.  p.  43,  et  seq.  See  Plato,  Repub.  11.  p.  377.  Pindar,  Olymp. 
I.  28.  But  no  religion  was  ever  designed  to  favor  impurity,  even 
when  it  allows  it  in  the  Gods.  See  the  fine  remarks  of  Seneca,  De 
Vita  beata,  ch.  XXVI.  §  5-6.  Even  the  Gods  were  subject  to  the 
eternal  laws.  Fate  punished  Zeus  for  each  ofience.  He  smarted  at 
home  for  his  infidelity  abroad. 

2  See  the  classic  passages  in  Aristophanes,  Clouds.  1065,  etseq. 

^  It  still  remains  unexplained  how  the  Athenians,  on  a  religious 
festival,  could  applaud  the  exhibitions  of  the  comic  drama,  which 
exposed  the  popular  mythology  to  ridicule,  as  it  is  done  in  the  Birds 
of  Aristophanes  —  to  mention  a  single  example — and  still  continue 
the  popular  worship. 


DUALISM.  85 

Mankind  pass  slowly  from  stage  to  stage  :  — 

"  Slowly  as  spreads  the  green  of  Earth 
O'ei  the  receding  Ocean's  bed, 
Dim  as  the  distant  Stars  come  forth, 
Uncertain  as  a  vision  fled," 

seems  the  gradual  progi*ess  of  the  race.  But  in  the 
midst  of  the  absurd  doctrines  of  the  priests,  and  the 
immoral  tales  wherewith  mistaken  poets  sought  to 
adorn  their  conception  of  God,  pure  hearts  beat,  and 
lofty  miifds  rose  above  the  grovelling  ideas  of  the  tem- 
ple and  the  market-place.  The  people  who  know  not 
the  law,  are  often  better  off  than  the  sage  or  the  sooth- 
sayer, for  they  know  only  what  it  is  needed  to  know. 
"  He  is  oft  the  wisest  man  that  is  not  wise  at  all." 
Religion  lies  so  close  to  men,  that  a  pure  heart  and 
mind,  free  from  prejudice,  see  its  truths,  its  duties,  and 
hopes.  But  before  mankind  passes  from  Fetichism  to 
pure  Monotheism,  at  a  certain  stage  of  religious  pro- 
gress, there  are  two  subordinate  forms  of  religious  spec- 
ulation, which  claim  the  attention  of  the  race,  namely. 
Dualism  and  Pantheism.  The  one  is  the  highest  form 
of  Polytheism  ;  the  other  a  degenerate  expression  of 
Monotheism,  and  both  together  form  the  logical  tie  be- 
tween the  two. 

Dualism  is  the  deification  of  two  principles,  the  Ab- 
solute Good,  and  the  Greatest  Evil.  The  origin  of  this 
form  of  religious  speculation  has  been  already  hinted 
at.^  Philosophically  stated,  it  is  the  recognition  of  two 
absolute  beings,  the  one  Supreme  Good,  the  other  Su- 
preme Evil.     But  this  involves  a  contradiction  :  for  if 

^  See  above,  eh.  IV. 
8 


86  PANTHEISM. 

the  Good  be  absolute,  Evil  is  not,  and  the  reverse. 
Another  form,  therefore,  was  invented.  The  Good 
Being  was  absolute  and  infinite ;  the  Evil  Principle 
was  originally  good,  but  did  not  keep  his  first  estate. 
Here  also  was  another  difficulty :  an  independent  and 
divine  being  cannot  be  mutable  and  frail,  therefore  the 
evil  principle  must  of  necessity  be  a  dependent  creature, 
and  not  divine  in  the  proper  sense.  So  a  third  form 
takes  place,  in  which  it  is  supposed  that  both  the  Good 
and  the  Evil  are  emanations  from  one  Absolute  Being, 
that  Evil  is  only  negative  and  will  at  last  end*;  that  all 
wicked,  as  all  good  principles  are  subject  to  the  Infinite 
God.  At  this  point  Dualism  coalesces  with  the  doc- 
trine of  one  God,  and  dies  its  death.  This  system 
of  Dualism,  in  its  various  forms,  has  extended  widely. 
It  seems  to  have  been  most  fully  developed  in  Persia. 
It  came  early  into  the  Christian  church,  and  still  retains 
its  hold  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Christendom, 
though  it  is  fast  dying  away  before  the  advance  of  Rea- 
son and  Faith.i 

Pantheism    has,    perhaps,    never    been    altogether   a 

^  The  doctrine  of  two  principles  is  older  than  the  time  of  Z  oroaster. 
Hyde,    Hist.    Religion,    vet.    Persarum.   Ch.  IX.   and   XX.   XXU. 

Bayle's  Dictionary,  article  Zoroaster,  Vol.  V.  p.  636.  See  also  Cud- 
worth,  Ch.  IV.  §  13,  p.  289,  et  seq.,  and  Mosheim's  Notes,  Vol.  I.  p. 
320,  et  seq.  Rhode,  Heilige  Sage  der  Zendvolks,  B.  H.  Ch.  IX.  X. 
XII.  Brucker,  Historia  Philosophige,  Vol.  I.  p.  176,  et  seq.  Plutarch 
was  a  Dualist  though  in  a  modified  SQnse.  See  his  Isis  and  Osiris, 
and  Psychogonia.  Marcion,  among  the  early  Christians,  was  accused 
of  this  belief,  and  indeed  the  existence  of  a  Devil  is  still  believed  by 
most  Christian  divines  to  be  second  only  in  importance  to  the  behef 
of  a  God  ;  at  the  very  least  a  scriptural  doctrine,  and  of  great  value. 
See  a  curious  book  of  Mayer,  (Historia  Diaboli,)  who  thinks  it  a  mat- 
ter of  divine  revelation.     See  also  the  ingenious  remarks  of  Professo} 


PANTHEISM.  87 

stranger  to  the  world.  It  makes  all  things  God,  and 
God  all  things.  This  view  seems  at  first  congenial 
to  a  poetic  and  religious  mind.  If  the  world  be  re- 
garded as  a  collection  of  powers,  —  the  awful  force 
of  the  storm,  of  the  thunder,  the  earthquake  ;  the  huge 
magnificence  of  the  ocean,  in  its  slumber  or  its  wrath  ; 
the  sublimity  of  the  ever  during  hills ;  the  rocks,  which 
resist  all  but  the  unseen  hand  of  Time  ;  these  might 
lead  to  the  thought  that  matter  is  God.  If  men  looked 
at  the  order,  fitness,  beauty,  love,  everywhere  apparent 
in  Nature,  the  impression  is  confirmed.  The  All  of 
things  appears  so  beautiful  to  the  comprehensive  eye, 
that  we  almost  think  it  is  its  own  Cause  and  Creator. 
The  animals  find  their  support  and  their  pleasure  ;  the 
painted  leopard  and  the  snowy  swan,  each  living  by  its 
own  law ;  the  bird  of  passage  that  pursues,  from  zone 
to  zone,  its  unmarked  path  ;  the  summer  warbler  which 
sings  out  its  melodious  existence  in  the  woodbine  ;  the 
flowers  that  come  unasked,  charming  the  youthful  year ; 
the  golden  fruit  maturing  in  its  wilderness  of  gi*een  ; 
the  dew  and  the  rainbow ;  the  frost  flake  and  the  moun- 
tain snow ;  the  glories  that  wait  upon  the  morning,  or 
sing  the  sun  to  his  ambrosial  rest ;  the  pomp  of  the  sun 
at  noon,  amid  the  clouds  of  a  June  day ;  the  awful 
majesty  of  night,  when  all  the  stars  with  a  serene  step 
come  out,  and  tread  their  round,  and  seem  to  watch 
in  blest  tranquillity  about  the  slumbering  world  ;  the 
moon  waning  and  waxing,  walking  in  beauty  through 
the  night :  —  daily  the  water  is  rough  with  the  winds ; 
they  come  or  abide  at  no  man's  bidding,  and  roll  the 

Woods,  in  his  translation  of  Knapp's  Theology ;  New  York,  1831, 
Vol.  I.  §  62-66,  et  seq.  See  the  early  forms  of  Dualism  among  the 
Christians  in  Beausobre,  Histoire  de  Manichee  et  du  Manicheisme, 
2  Vols.  4to. 


88  PANTHEISM. 

yellow  corn,  or  wake  religious  music  at  nightfall  in  the 
pines  —  these  things  are  all  so  fair,  so  w^ondrous,  so 
wrapt  in  mystery,  it  is  no  marvel  that  men  say.  This  is 
divine  ;  yes,  the  All  is  God  ;  he  is  the  light  of  the 
morning,  the  beauty  of  the  noon,  and  the  strength  of 
the  sun.  The  little  grass  grows  by  his  presence.  He 
preserveth  the  cedars.  The  stars  are  serene  because  he 
is  in  them.  The  lilies  are  redolent  of  God.  He  is  the 
One  ;  the  All.  God  is  the  mind  of  man.  The  soul  of 
all;  more  moving  than  motion  ;  more  stable  than  rest ; 
fairer  than  beauty,  and  stronger  than  strength.  The 
power  of  Nature  is  God ;  the  universe,  broad  and  deep 
and  high,  a  handful  of  dust,  which  God  enchants.  He 
is  the  mysterious  magic  that  possesses  the  world.  Yes, 
he  is  the  All ;  the  Reality  of  all  phenomena. 

But  an  old  v^Titer  thus  pleasantly  rebukes  this  con- 
clusion, "  Surely,  vain  are  all  men  by  nature,  who  are 
ignorant  of  God,  and  could  not  out  of  the  good  things 
that  are  seen,  know  him  that  is  .  .  .  but  deemed  either 
Fire,  or  Wind,  or  the  swift  Air,  or  the  Circle  of  the 
Stars,  or  the  violent  Water,  or  the  Lights  of  Heaven,  to 
be  the  Gods  which  govern  the  world.  With  whose 
beauty  if  they  being  delighted  took  them  to  be  Gods ; 
let  them  know  how  much  better  the  Lord  of  them  is, 
for  the  first  Author  of  beauty  had  created  them."^ 

^  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  Ch.  XIII.  1,  et  seq.  At  the  present  day 
Pantheism  seems  to  be  the  bugbear  of  some  excellent  persons.  They 
see  it  everywhere  except  on  the  dark  walls  of  their  own  churches. 
The  disciples  of  Locke  find  it  in  all  schools  of  philosophy  but  the 
Sensual ;  the  followers  of  Calvin  see  it  in  the  liberal  churches.  It 
has  become  dangerous  to  say  "  God  is  Spirit ;  "  a  definite  God,  whosf 
personality  ice  understand,  is  the  orthodox  article.  M.  Maret,  in  his 
Essai  surle  Pantheisme  dans  les  Societes  modernes;  Paris,  1840,  1  vol. 
8vo,  finds  it  the  natural  result  of  Protestantism,  and  places  before  us 
the  pleasant  alternatives,  either  the   Catholic  Church  or  Pantheism  I 


MATERIAL   PANTHEISM.  89 

To  view  the  subject  in  a  philosophical  and  abstract 
way,  Pantheism  is  the  worship  of  All  as  God.  He  is 
the  One  and  All ;  not  conceived  as  distinct  from  the 
Universe,  nor  independent  of  it.  It  is  said  to  have  pre- 
vailed widely  in  ancient  times,  and,  if  we  may  believe 
what  is  reported,  it  has  not  ended  with  Spinoza.  It 
may  be  divided  into  two  forms.  Material  Pantheism, 
sometimes  called  Hylozoism,  and  Spiritual  Pantheism, 
or  Psycho-zoism.  Material  Pantheism  affirms  the  ex- 
istence of  Matter,  but  denies  the  existence  of  Spirit,  or 
any  thing  besides  matter.  Creation  is  not  possible  ; 
the  Phenomena  of  Nature  and  Life  are  not  the  result  of 
a  "  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms,"  as  in  Atheism,  but 
of  Laws  in  Nature  itself.  Matter  is  in  a  constant  flux ; 
but  it  changes  only  by  laws  which  are  themselves  im- 
mutable. Of  course  this  does  not  admit  God  as  the 
Absolute  or  Infinite,  but  the  sum  total  of  material 
things  ;  He  is  limited  both  to  the  extension  and  the 
qualities  of  matter;  He  is  merely  immanent  therein, 
but  does  not  transcend  material  forms.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  Pantheism  of  Strato  of  Lampsacus,  of 
Democritus,  perhaps 'of  Hippocrates,  and  as  some  think, 
though  erroneously,  of  Xenophanes,  Parmenides,  and, 
in  general,  of  the  Eleatic  Philosophers  in  Greece,^  and 

Preface,  p.  xv.  et  al.  The  rationalism  of  the  nineteenth  century  must 
end  in  scepticism,  or  leap  over  to  Pantheism  !  According  to  him  all  the 
philosophers  of  the  Spiritual  School  in  our  day  are  Pantheists.  — 
Formerly  divines  condemned  Philosophy  because  it  had  too  little  of 
God ;  now  because  it  has  too  much.  It  would  seem  difficult  to  get 
the  orthodox  medium ;  too  much  and  too  little  are  found  equally  dan- 
gerous. See  the  pleasant  remarks  of  Hegel  on  this  charge  of  Pan- 
theism, Encyclopadie  der  philosoph.  Wissenschaften,  etc.,  third  edi- 
tion, §  573. 

^  See  Karsten,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  and  II.     See  the  opinions  of  these 
men  ably  summed  up  by  Ritter,  Geschichte  der  Philosophie,  Vol.  I. 

8* 


90  SPIRITUAL   PANTHEISM. 

of  many  others  whose  tendency  is  more  spiritual.^  Ita 
philosophic  form  is  the  last  result  of  an  attempt  to  form 
an  adequate  Conception  of  God.  It  has  sometimes 
been  called  Kosmo-theism,  (World-Divinity,)  but  it 
gives  us  a  world  without  a  God. 

Spiritual  Pantheism  affirms  the  existence  of  Spirit, 
and  sometimes,  either  expressly,  or  by  implication,  de- 
nies the  existence  of  Matter.  This  makes  all  Spirit 
God  ;  always  the  same,  but  ever  unfolding  into  new 
forms,  and  therefore  a  perpetual  Becoming;  God  is 
the  absolute  substance,  with  these  two  attributes  — 
Thought  and  Extension.  He  is  self-conscious  in  men  ; 
without  self-consciousness  in  animals.  Before  the  crea- 
tion of  men  he  was  not  5g//'-conscious.  All  beside  God 
is  devoid  of  Substantiality.  It  is  not  but  only  appeaes  ; 
its  being  is  its  being-  seen.  This  is  Psycho-theism  (Soul- 
Divinity).  It  gives  us  a  God  without  a  World,  and 
He  is  the  only  cause  that  exists,  the  Sum-total  of  Spirit ; 
immanent  in  Spirit  but  not  transcending  spiritual  man- 
ifestations. This  was  the  Pantheism  of  Spinoza  and 
some  others.  It  lies  at  the  bottom  of  many  mystical 
discourses,  and  appears,  more  or  less,  in  most  of  the 
pious  and  spiritual  wi'iters  of  the  middle  ages,  who 
confound  the  Divine  Being  with  their  own  personal- 
ity, and  yet  find  some   support   for  their  doctrines  in 

B.  V.  and  Brandis,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  §  66-72.  Cud  worth  has  many 
fine  observations  on  this  sort  of  pantheism,  Vol.  I.  Ch.  IV.  §  15-26,  and 
elsewhere.  He  denies  that  this  school  make  the  deity  corporeal,  and 
charges  this  upon  others.     See  Ch.  III. 

^  See  Jasche,  Der  Pantheismus,  etc.  Vols.  II.  and  III.  passim,  and 
the  liistories  of  Philosophy.  If  a  man  is  curious  to  detect  a  pan- 
theistic tendency  he  will  find  it  in  the  Soul  of-ihe-world^  among  thf 
ancients,  in  the  Plastic  Nature  of  Cudworth,  or  the  HylarcJiic  Prin- 
ciple of  Henry  More. 


SPIRITUAL   PANTHEISM.  91 

the  language,  more  or  less  figurative,  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. 

This  system  appears  more  or  less,  in  the  writings  of 
John  the  Evangelist,  in  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  and 
the  many  authors  who  have  drawn  from  him.  It  tinges 
in  some  measure  the  spiritual  philosophy  of  the  present 
day.^  But  the  charge  of  Pantheism  is  very  vague,  and 
is  usually  urged  most  by  such  as  know  little,  of  its 
meaiiing.  He  who  conceives  of  God,  as  transcending 
creation  indeed,  but  yet  at  the  same  time,  as  the  Imma- 
nent Cause  of  all  things,  as  infinitely  present,  and  infi- 
nitely active,  with  no  limitations,  is  sure  to  be  called  a 
Pantheist  in  these  days,  as  he  would  have  passed  for  an 
Atheist  two  centuries  ago.  Some  who  have  been  called 
by  this  easy  but  obnoxious  name,  both  in  ancient  and 
modern  times,  have  been  philosophical  defenders  of  the 
doctrine  of  one  God,  but  have  given  him  the  historical 
form  neither  of  Brahma  nor  Jehovah.^ 

^  See  tlie  curious  forms  this  assumes  in  Theologia  Mystica  .  .  .  specu- 
lativa  .  .  .  et  afiectiva,  per  Henric.  Harph.  etc. ;  Colon.  1538.  Jasche 
and  Maret  find  it  in  all  the  modern  spmtual  philosopliy.  Indeed  the  two 
rocks  that  threaten  theology  seem  to  be  a  Theosophy  which  resolves  all 
into  God,  and  Anthropomorphism,  which  in  fact  denies  the  Infinite. 
This  mystical  tendency,  popularly  denominated  Pantheism,  appears  in 
the  ancient  religions  of  the  East ;  it  enters  largely  into  the  doctrine  of 
the  Sujis,  a  Mahometan  sect.  See  Tholuck,  Bluthensamlung  aus  der 
morgenlandischen  Mystik,  p.  33,  et  seq.  and  passim.  Yon  Hammer 
also,  in  his  Geschichte  der  schonen  Redekunste  Persens,  etc.  p.  340  et 
seq.  347,  et  seq.  et  al.  gives  extracts  from  these  Oriental  speculators 
who  are  more  or  less  justly  charged  with  Pantheism. 

^  The  writings  of  Spinoza  have  hitherto  been  supposed  to  contain 
the  most  pernicious  fonn  of  Pantheism ;  but  of  late,  the  poison  has  been 
detected  also  in  the  works  of  Schleiermacher,  Fichte,  Schelling,  He- 
gel, Cousin,  not  to  mention  others  of  less  note.  Pantheism  is  a  word 
of  convenient  ambiguity,  and  serves  as  well  to  express  the  theologica^ 
odium  as  the  more  ancient  word  Atheism,  which  has  been  deemed  by 


92  MONOTHEISM. 

III.  Monotheism  is  the  worship  of  one  Supreme 
God.  It  may  admit  numerous  divine  beings  superior 
to  men,  yet  beneath  the  Supreme  Divinity,  as  the  Jews, 
the  Mahometans,  and  the  Christians  have  done  ;  or  it 
may  deny  these  subsidiary  beings,  as  some  philosophers 
have  taught.  The  Idea  of  God  to  which  Monotheism 
ultimately  attains,  is  that  of  a  Being  infinitely  power- 
ful, wise,  and  good.  He  may,  however,  be  supposed  to 
manifest  himself  in  one  form  only,  as  the  Jehovah  of 
the  Hebrews,  and  the  Allah  of  the  Mahometans ;  in 
three  forms,  as  the  Triune  God  of  most  Christians ;  or 
in  allforins,  as  the  Pan  and  Brahma  of  the  Greek  and 
Indian  —  for  it  is  indifferent  whether  we  ascribe  no 
form  or  all  forms  to  the  Infinite. 

Since  the  form  of  Monotheism  prevails  at  this  day, 
little  need  be  said  to  portray  its  most  important  feat- 
ures.^ It  annihilates  all  distinction  of  nations,  tribes, 
and  men.  There  is  one  God  for  all  mankind.  He  has 
no  favorites,  but  is  the  equal  Father  of  them  all.  War 
and  slavery  are  repugnant  to  its  spirit,  for  men  are 
brothers.  There  is  no  envy,  strife,  or  confusion  in  the 
divine  consciousness,  to  justify  hostility  among  men ; 
He  hears  equally  the  prayer  of  all,  and  gives  them  in- 
finite good  at  last.  No  priesthood  is  needed  to  serve 
Him.  Under  Fetichism  every  man  could  have  access 
to  his  God,  for  divine  symbols  were  more  numerous 
than  men  ;  miracles  were  performed  every  day ;  inspira- 

some  synonymous  with  Philosophy.  See  the  recent  controversial  writ- 
ings of  Mr.  Norton  and  Mr.  Ripley,  respecting  the  Pantheism  of 
Spinoza  and  Schleiermacher.  It  has  been  well  said,  the  question  be- 
tween the  alleged  Pantheist  and  the  pure  Theist,  is  simply  this :  Is 
God  the  immanent  cause  of  the  World,  or  is  he  not  ?  See  Sengler, 
Die  Idee  Gottes.  B.  I.  p.  10,  107,  899. 

^  Sermons  of  Theism,  etc.  Sermon  V.  and  VI. 


MONOTHEISM.  93 

tion  was  common,  but  of  little  value ;  the  favor  of  the 
Gods  was  supposed  to  give  a  wonderful  and  miracu- 
lous command  over  Nature.  Under  Polytheism,  only 
a  chosen  few  had  direct  access  to  God ;  an  appointed 
Priesthood ;  a  sacerdotal  caste.  They  stood  between 
men  and  the  Gods.  Divine  symbols  became  more  rare. 
Lispiration  was  not  usual ;  a  miracle  was  a  most  un- 
common thing ;  the  favorites  of  heaven  were  children 
born  of  the  Gods  ;  admitted  to  intercourse  with  them, 
or  enabled  by  them  to  do  wonderful  works.  Now 
Monotheism  would  restore  inspiration  to  all.  By  rep- 
resenting God  as  spiritual  and  omnipresent,  it  brings 
him  within  every  man's  reach ;  by  making  Him  infi- 
nitely perfect,  it  shows  his  Wisdom,  Love,  and  Will 
always  the  same.  Therefore,  it  annihilates  favoritism 
and  all  capricious  miracles.  Inspiration,  like  the  sun- 
light, awaits  all  who  will  accept  its  conditions.  All 
are  Sons  of  God ;  they  only  are  his  favored  ones  who 
serve  him  best.  No  day,  nor  spot,  nor  deed,  is  exclu- 
sively sacred  ;  but  all  time,  and  each  place,  and  every 
noble  act.     The  created  All  is  a  Symbol  of  God. 

But  here  also  human  perversity  and  ignorance  have 
done  their  work  ;  have  attempted  to  lessen  the  sym- 
bols of  the  Deity ;  to  make  him  of  difficult  access ;  to 
bar  up  the  fountain  of  Truth  and  source  of  Light  still 
more  than  under  Polytheism,  by  the  establishment  of 
places  and  times,  of  rituals  and  creeds  ;  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  exclusive  priests  to  mediate,  where  no  media- 
tor is  needed  or  possible  ;  by  the  notion  that  God  is 
capricious,  revengeful,  uncertain,  partial  to  individuals 
or  nations  ;  by  taking  a  few  doctrines  and  insisting  on 
exclusive  belief;  by  selecting  a  few  from  the  many 
alleged  miracles,  insisting  that  these,  and  these  alone 
shall  be  accepted,  and  thus  making  the  religious  duty 


94  MONOTHEISM. 

of  men  arbitrary  and  almost  contemptible.  Still,  hoW' 
ever,  no  human  ignorance,  no  perversity,  no  pride  of 
priest  or  king,  can  long  prevent  this  doctrine  from  doing 
its  vast  and  beautiful  work.  It  struggles  mightily  with 
the  Sin  and  Superstition  of  the  world,  and  at  last  will 
overcome  them. 

The  history  of  this  doctrine  is  instructive.  It  was 
said  above  there  were  three  elements  to  be  considered 
in  this  matter,  namely,  the  Sentiment  of  God ;  the  Idea 
of  God;  and  the  Conception  of  God.  The  Senti- 
ment is  vague  and  mysterious,  but  always  the  same 
thing  in  kind,  only  felt  more  or  less  strongly,  and  with 
more  or  less  admixture  of  foreign  elements.  The  Idea 
is  always  the  same  in  itself,  as  if  is  implied  and  writ  in 
man's  constitution  ;  but  is  seen  with  more  or  less  of  a 
distinct  consciousness.  Both  of  these  lead  to  Unity  ^ 
to  Monotheism,  and  accordingly,  in  the  prayers  and 
hymns,  the  festivals  and  fasts  of  Fetichists  and  Poly- 
theists  we  find  often  as  clear  and  definite  intimations 
of  Monotheism,  as  in  the  devotional  writings  of  pro- 
fessed Monotheists.  In  this  sense  the  doctrine  is  old  as 
human  civilization,  and  has  never  been  lost  sight  of. 
This  is  so  plain  it  requires  no  proof.  But  the  Concep- 
tion of  God,  which  men  superadd  to  the  Sentiment 
and  Idea  of  Him,  is  continually  changing  with  the  ad- 
vance of  the  world,  of  the  nation,  or  the  man.  We 
can  trace  its  historical  development  in  the  writings  of 
Priests,  and  Philosophers,  and  Poets,  though  it  is  im- 
possible to  say  when  and  where  it  was  first  taught  with 
distinct  philosophical  consciousness,  that  there  is  one 
God;  one  only.  The  history  of  this  subject  demands 
a  treatise  by  itself  ^     This,  however,  is  certain,  that  we 

^  Meiners,  in  his  work,  Historia  Doctrinae  de  vero  Deo,  etc. ;  1  vol 
12mo,  1780,  (which,  though  celebrated,  is  a  passionate  and  cne-sidea 


MONOTHEISM   OF   THE   JEWS.  95 

find  signs  and  proofs  of  its  existence  among  the  earliest 
poets  and  philosophers  of  Greece  ;  in  the  dim  remnants 
of  Egyptian  splendor ;  in  the  uncertain  records  of  tKe 
East ;  in  the  spontaneous  effusions  of  savage  hearts, 
and  in  the  most  ancient  writings  of  the  Jews.  The 
latter  have  produced  such  an  influence  on  the  world, 
that  their  doctrine  requires  a  few  words  on  this  point. 

The  Deity  was  conceived  of  by  the  Hebrews  as  en- 
tirely separate  from  Nature ;  this  distinguishes  Judaism 
from  all  forms  which  had  a  pantheistic  tendency,  and 
which  deified  matter  or  men.  He  was  the  primitive 
ground  and  cause  of  all.  But  the  Jewish  Religion  did 
not,  with  logical  consistency,  deny  the  existence  of 
other  Gods,  inferior  to  the  highest.  Here  we  must 
consider  the  doctrine  of  the  Jewish  books,  and  that  of  the 
Jewish  people.  In  the  first  the  reality  of  other  deities 
is  generally  assumed.  The  first  commandment  of  the 
decalogue  implies  the  existence  of  other  Gods.  The 
mention  of  Sons  of  God  who  visited  the  daughters  of 

book,  altogetlier  imworthy  of  the  subject,  and  "  behind  the  times  "  of 
its  composition,)  maintains  that  the  Heathens  knew  nothing  of  the 
one  God  till  about  3554  years  after  the  creation  of  the  world,  when 
Anaxagoras  helped  them  to  this  doctrine.  See,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  broad  and  philosophical  views  of  Cudworth,  Ch.  IV.  passim,  who, 
however,  seems  sometimes  to  push  his  hypothesis  too  far.  A  history 
of  Monotheism  is  still  to  be  desired,  though  Tenneman,  Rltter,  Bran- 
dis,  and  even  Brucker,  have  collected  many  facts,  and  formed  valua- 
ble contributions  to  such  a  work.  Munscher  has  collected  valuable 
passages  from  the  Fathers,  relating  to  the  history  of  the  doctrine 
amono-  the  Christians,  and  their  controversies  with  the  Heathen,  in  his 
Lehrbuch  der  Chrlstlichen  Dogmengeschichte,  3d  ed.  by  Yon  Coin, 
Yol.  I.  Ch.  YI.  §  52,  et  seq.  But  Warburton,  who  wrote  like  an  at- 
torney, gives  the  most  erroneous  judgments  upon  the  ancient  heathen 
doctrine  respecting  the  unity  of  God.  See  the  temperate  remarks  of 
Mosheim,  De  Recusante  Constant,  etc.,  p.  17,  et  seq. 


96  MONOTHEISM   OF   THE   JEWS. 

men ;  ^  of  the  divine  council  or  Host  of  Heaven ;  ^  the 
contract  Jacob  makes  with  Jehovah  ;  ^  the  frequent  ref- 
erence to  strange  Gods ;  the  preeminence  claimed  for 
Jehovah  above  all  the  deities  of  the  other  nations^  — 
these  things  show  that  the  mind  of  the  writers  was  not 
decided  in  favor  of  the  exclusive  existence  of  Jehovah. 
The  people  and  their  kings  before  the  Exile  were 
strongly  inclined  to  a  mingled  worship  of  Fetichism 
and  Polytheism,  a  medium  between  the  ideal  religion 
of  Moses  and  the  actual  worship  of  the  Canaanites. 
It  is  difficult  in  the  present  state  of  critical  investiga- 
tion, to  determine  nicely  the  date  of  all  the  different 
books  of  the  Jews,  but  this  may  be  safely  said,  that  the 
early  books  have  more  of  a  polytheistic  tendency  than 
the  writings  of  the  later  prophets,  for  at  length,  both 
the  learned  and  the  unlearned  became  pure  Monothe- 
ists.^  At  first  Jehovah  and  the  Elohim  seem  to  be  rec- 
ognized as  joint  Gods ;  ^  but  at  the  end  Jehovah  is  the 
only  God. 

'  Gen.  Yl.  2. 

2  Gen.  III.  22;  1  Kings  XXH.  19  ;  Job  H.  1. 

3  Gen.  XXVin.  20,  22,  comp.  Herodotus,  lY.  179. 

*  See  the  numerous  passages  where  Jehovah  is  spoken  of  as  the 
chief  of  the  Gods :  2  Chr.  U.  5. ;  Ps.  XCV.  XCVH.  7,  et  seq. ;  Ex. 
XII.  12,  XV.  11,  XVIII.  11,  etc.,  etc.  Strabo,  ubi  sup.  Lib.  XVL 
Ch.  n.  §  35,  gives  a  strange  account  of  the  Jewish  theology. 

^  Compare  with  the  former  passages,  Jer.  11.  26-28  ;  Isa.  XLIV. 
6-20;  Deut.  IV.  28,  et  seq.,  XXXH.  16,  17,  39;  Ps.  CXV. 
CXXXV.  and  Ecclesiasticus  XXXm.  5,  XLIII.  28;  Wisdom  of 
Sol.  Xn.  13  ;  Baruch  III.  35.  See  de  Wette,  Bib.  Dogmatik,  §  97, 
et  seq.,  and  149,  et  seq.,  who  has  collected  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant passages.  See  too  his  Wesen  des .  Glaubens,  etc.,  §  14,  p.  72  et 
seq. 

®  See  Bauer,  Dicta,  Classica,  V.  T.  etc. ;  1798,  Vol.  I.  §  41,  et  seq. 
See  also  the  treatise  of  Stahl  on  the  Appearances  of  God,  etc 
in  Eichhorn,  Bibliothek  der  Bib.  Lit.  Vol.  VII.  p.  156,  et  seq. 


MONOTHEISM    OF   THE   JEWS.  97 

But  the  character  assigned  him  is  fluctuating.  He 
is  always  the  Creator  and  Lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
yet  is  not  always  represented  as  the  Fal^her  of  all  na- 
tions, but  of  the  Jews  only,  who  will  punish  the  Hea- 
thens with  the  most  awful  severity.^  In  some  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament  he  is  almighty,  omnipresent,  and 
omniscient;  eternal  and  unalterable.  But  in  others  he 
is  represented  with  limitations  in  respect  to  all  these 
attributes.  Not  only  are  the  sensual  perceptions  of  a 
man  ascribed  to  him,  for  this  is  unavoidable  in  popular 
speech,  but  he  walks  on  the  earth,  eats  with  Abraham, 
wrestles  with  Jacob,  appears  in  a  visible  form  to  Moses, 
tempts  men,  speaks  in  human  speech,  is  pleased  with 
the  fragi-ant  sacrifice,  sleeps  and  awakes,  rises  early  in 
the  morning  ;  is  jealous,  passionate,  revengeful.^     How- 

^  See  an  able  article  on  "  the  Relation  of  Jehovah  to  the  Heathen," 
in  Eichhorn,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  VIII.  p.  222,  et  seq.  See  Ammon,  Fort- 
bildung  des  Christenthums ;  Leip.  1836,  et  seq.  Vol.  L  Book  I. 
ch.  I. 

^  Lessing  well  says,  the  Hebrews  proceeded  from  the  conception 
of  the  most  powerful  God  to  that  of  the  only  God,  but  remained  for  a 
long  time  far  below  the  true  transcendent  notion  of  the  one  true  God. 
"  Education  of  the  human  race,"  Werke;  ed.  1824.  Vol.  XXIV.  p. 
43-4.  See  also  on  this  subject  of  Hebrew  Theism,  the  valuable  but 
somewhat  one-sided  views  of  Vatke,  Bib.  Theologie,  Vol.  I.  §  44,  et 
seq.  But  see  also  Salvador,  Hist,  des  Institutions  de  Moise,  etc.; 
Brussels,  1830.  Vol.  HI.  p.  175,  et  seq. 

At  first  Christian  Artists  found  it  in  bad  taste  and  even  heathen- 
ish to  paint  the  Almighty  in  any  form.  Then,  in  decorating  Churches 
and  MSS.  with  pictures  drawn  from  O.  S.  stories,  they  often  put  only 
a  liand  for  God,  or  omitting  that,  put  Christ  for  the  Father.  See 
Didron,  Iconographie  Chretlenne ;  Paris,  1843,  p.  174,  et  seq.  See 
the  nice  distinction  made  by  John  of  Damascus  in  regard  to  images 
of  God,  Orat.  I.  In  Imaglnlbus;  0pp.  ed.  Basil,  1574,  p.  701,  et  seq 
et  al.  Before  the  twelfth  century  It  seems  there  were  no  pictures  of 
God  from  Christian  Artists.     Afterwards  the  Italians  painted  him  at 

9 


98  MONOTHEISM    OF   THE  JEWS. 

ever,  in  other  passages  the  loftiest  attributes  are  as- 
signed him.  He  is  the  God  of  infinite  Love ;  Father 
of  all,  who  possesses  the  Earth  and  Heavens. 

The  conception  which  a  man  forms  of  God,  depends 
on  the  character  and  attainment  of  the  man  himself; 
this  differed  with  individual  Jews  as  with  the  Greeks, 
the  Christians,  and  the  Mahometans.  However,  this 
must  be  confessed,  that  under  the  guidance  of  divine 
Providence,  the  great  and  beautiful  doctrine  of  one 
God  for  the  Hebrews  seems  very  early  embraced  by 
the  great  Jewish  Lawgiver ;  incorporated  in  his  national 
legislation  ;  and  defended  with  rigorous  enactions.  At 
our  day  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  service  ren- 
dered to  the  human  race  by  the  mighty  soul  of  Moses, 
and  that  a  thousand  years  before  Anaxagoras.^  His 
name  is  ploughed  into  the  history  of  the  world.  His 
influence  can  never  die.  It  must  have  been  a  vast 
soul,  endowed  with  moral  and  religious  genius  to  a  de- 
gree extraordinary  among  men,  which  at  that  early  age 
could  attempt  to  found  a  State  on  the  doctrine  and 
worship  of  one  national  God. 

Was  he  the  first  of  the  come-outers  ?  Or  had 
others,  too  far  before  the  age  for  its  acceptance,  per- 
ished before  him  in  the  greatness  of  their  endeavor  ? 
History  is  silent.^     But  the  bodies  of  many  Prophets 

a  Pope ;  the  Germans  as  an  Emperor,  the  French  and  English  as  a 
King.     Didron,  ubi  sup.  p.  230,  et  seq. 

^  Constant,  Liv.  IV.  ch.  XL  has  some  just  remarks  on  the  excellence 
of  the  Hebrew  theology. 

^  It  is  difficult  to  determine  accurately  the  date  of  events  in 
Chinese  history,  such  are  the  pretensions  of  Chinese  scholars  on  the 
one  hand,  and  such  the  bigoted  scepticism  of  dogmatists  on  the  other ; 
but  see  the  Chinese  Classical  Work,  commonly  called  the  Four 
Books,  translated  by  David  Pollie ;  Malacca,  1829,  1  vol.  8vo.  See 
Cantu,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  III.  ch.  XXI.  et  seq. 


TRANSITION   FROM   FETICHISM   TO   MONOTHEISM.  99 

must  be  rolled  into  the  gulf  that  yawns  wide  and  deep 
between  the  Ideal  and  the  Actual,  before  the  successful 
man  comes  in  the  fulness  of  time,  at  God's  command, 
to  lead  men  into  the  promised  land,  reaping  what  they 
did  not  sow.  These  men  have  risen  up  in  all  coun- 
ti'ies  and  every  time.  In  the  rudest  ages  as  in  the 
most  refined,  they  look  through  the  glass  of  Nature, 
seeing  clearly  the  invisible  things  of  God,  and  by  the 
things  that  are  made  and  the  feelings  felt,  understand- 
ing his  eternal  power  and  Godhead.  They  adored 
Him  as  the  Spirit  who  dwells  in  the  sun,  looks  through 
the  stars,  speaks  in  the  wind,  controls  the  world,  is  chief 
of  all  powers,  animal,  material,  spiritual,  and  Father  of 
all  men  —  their  dear  and  blessed  God.  In  his  light 
they  loved  to  live,  nor  feared  to  die. 

There  is  a  great  advance  from  the  Fetichism  of  the  « 
Canaanite  to  the  Theism  of  Moses ;  from  the  rude 
conceptions  of  the  New  Zealander  to  the  refined  no- 
tions of  an  enlightened  Christian.  Ages  of  progress 
and  revolution  seem  to  separate  them,  so  different  is 
their  theology.  Yet  the  Religion  of  each  is  the  same, 
distinguished  only  by  the  more  and  less.  The  change 
from  one  of  these  three  religious  types  to  the  other  is 
slow;  but  attended  with  tumult,  war,  and  suffering. 
In  the  ancient  civilized  nations,  little  is  known  of  their 
passage  from  Fetichism  to  Polytheism.  It  took  place 
at  an  early  age  of  the  world,  before  written  documents 
were  common.  We  have,  therefore,  no  records  to 
verify  this  passage  in  the  history  of  the  Greeks,  Egyp. 
tians,  or  Hebrews.  Yet  in  the  earliest  periods  of  each 
of  these  nations  we  find  monuments  which  show  that 
Fetichism  was  not  far  off,  and  furnish  a  lingering  but 
imperfect  evidence   of   the  fierce  struggle    which    had 


100  THE   TRANSITION   FROM 

gone  on.  The  wrecks  of  Fetichism  strew  the  shores  of 
Greece  and  Egypt.  Judea  furnishes  us  with  some 
familiar  examples.^ 

In  the  patriarchal  times,  if  we  may  trust  the  mythical 
stories  in  Genesis,  we  find  sacred  stones  which  seem  to 
be  Fetiches,  Stone-pillars,^  Idolatry,^  worship  of  Ram- 
phan  and  Chiun  while  in  Egypt  and  the  desert;*  the 
Golden  Calf  of  Aaron  and  that  of  Jeroboam;^  and  the 
Goats  that  were  worshipped  in  the  wilderness.^  Besides, 
we  find  the  worship  of  the  Serpent,"  a  relic  of  the 
superstition  of  Egypt  or  Phoenicia;  the  worship  of 
Baal  in  its  various  forms ;^  of  Astarte  "Heaven's 
Queen  and  Mother  ; "  of  Thammuz,  and  Moloch  ;  ^  all 

^  The  legendary  character  of  the  Pentateuch  renders  it  unsafe  to 
depend  entirely  on  its  historical  statements.  Many  passages  seem  to 
have  been  originally  designed,  or  at  least  retouched,  by  some  one 
■who  sought  to  enhance  the  difference  between  Moses  and  the  people. 
Still,  the  "  general  drift "  of  the  tradition  is  not  to  be  mistaken,  and 
can  scarcely  be  wrong.  The  testimony  of  the  prophets  respecting 
the  early  state  of  the  nation,  is  more  valuable  than  that  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch itself.  See  De  Wette,  Introduction  to  the  O.  T.,  tr.  by  Thco. 
Parker;  Boston,  1843,  Vol.  II.  passim.  See  too,  Ewald,  Geschichte. 
des  Volks  Israel,  Vol.  I. ;  Gott,  1843. 

«  Gen.  XXVIII.  18,  XXXV.  14. 

»  Gen.  XXXI.  19,  XXXV.  1-4. 

*  See  Josh.  XXIV.  14  ;  Ezek.  XX.  7,  et  seq.  XXIII.  3  ;  Amos,  V. 
25,  26 ;  Exod.  XXXII.  1  ;  Lev.  XVII. 

5  Exod.  XXXII.    1-6  ;  1  lungs  XII.  28  ;  Ezek.  1. 10,  and  X.  14. 

^  Levit.  XVII.  7.     Devils,  in  our  version. 

'  I^umb.  XXI.  4-9 ;  2  Kings  XVII.  4. 

«  1  Kings  XVm.  23,  26,  28  ;  XIX.  18;  Jerem.  XIX.  5;  2  Kings 
I.  2  ;  Judges  VIH.  32,  IX.  4,  46  ;  Numb.  XXV.  1,  et  seq. 

9  1  Kings  XI.  33;  Jerem.  VII.  18;  Judges  11.  13,  X.  6  ;  2  Kings 
XXni.  7  r  Le\dt.  XIX.  29;  Deut.  XXIII.  18;  Ezek.  VIII.  14 ;  2 
Kings  XXIII.  5,  XVII.  16,  XXL  3,  5 ;  Deut.  IV.  19,  XVn.  3;  2 
Kings  XXm.  10;  Levit.  XVIII.  21,  XX.  2,  et  seq.;  Deut.  XVIIL 
10;'jerem.  VII.  31,  XIX.  5,  XXXII.  35.     See  the  testimony  of  the 


FETICHISM   TO   MONOTHEISM.  101 

of  which  seem  to  be  remains  of  Fetichism.^  In  the 
very  Law  itself  we  find  traces  of  Fetichism.  The 
prohibition  of  certain  kinds  of  food,  garments,  and 
sacrifices  ;  the  forms  of  divination,  the  altars,  feasts, 
sacrifices,  scape-goat,  the  ornaments  of  the  priest's 
dress,  all  seem  to  have  grown  out  of  the  rude  worship 
that  formerly  prevailed.  The  old  Idolatry  was  spirit- 
ualized, its  forms  modified  and  made  to  serve  for  the 
worship  of  Jehovah.  The  frequent  relapses  of  king 
and  people  prove,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  nation  was 
slowly  emerging  out  of  a  state  of  great  darkness  and 
superstition,  and,  on  the  other,  that  lofty  minds  and 
noble  hearts  were  toifing  for  their  civilization. 

For  many  centuries  a  most  bloody  contention  w^ent 
on  between  the  ideal  Monotheism  and  the  actual 
Idolatry;  at  times  it  was  a  war  of  extermination. 
This  shows  how  difficult  it  is  to  introduce  Monotheism 
before  the  people  are  ready  to  receive  it.  They  must 
wait  till  they  attain  the  requisite  moral  and  intellectual 
growth.  Before  this  is  reached,  they  can  receive  it  but 
in  name,  and  are  detained  from  the  ruder,  and  to  them 
more  congenial  form,  only  at  the  expense  of  most 
rigorous  laws,  suffering,  and  bloodshed.  Before  the 
Exile    the    Hebrews    constantly   revolted;    afterwards 

ancients  and  remarks  of  the  learned  on  this  subject  in  De  Wette, 
Archiiologie,  etc.,  §  191,  et  seq.  and  §  231,  et  seq.  Vatke  goes  too  far 
in  liis  explanations,  §  21-27;  but  his  book  is  full  of  valuable 
thoughts. 

^  There  is  a  remarkable  passage,  though  of  but  four  words,  in 
Hosea,  XIII.  2,  which  shows  that  one  of  the  worst  vices  of  Fetichism 
still  prevailed  in  his  time,  saijing,  "  They  that  sacrifice  a  man  shall  kiss 
the  calves"  i.  e.  the  Idols  of  the  People.  This  is  not  the  common 
translation  —  but  it  seems  to  me  the  true  one. 

9* 


102  NO  FORM  WITHOUT  TRUTH. 

they   never   returned    to   the   ruder   worship,   but   ten 
tribes  of  the  nation  were  gone  forever.^ 

In  the  more  recent  conflict  of  Monotheism  and 
Polytheism,  the  history  of  the  Christian  and  Mahom- 
etan religions  shows  what  suffering  is  endured  first  by 
the  advocates  of  the  new,  and  next  by  those  of  the  old 
faith,  before  the  rude  doctrine  could  give  place  to  the 
better.  War  and  extermination  do  their  work,  and 
remove  the  unbelieving.  Many  a  country  has  been 
Christianized  or  Mahometanized  by  the  sword.  These 
things  have  taken  place  within  a  few  centuries  ;  when 
the  conquering  religion  was  called  Christianity.  Are 
the  wars  of  Charlemagne  forgotten  ?  Go  back  thou- 
sands of  years,  to  the  strife  between  sacerdotal  Polythe- 
ism and  Fetichism,  when  each  was  a  more  bloody 
faith,  and  imagination  cannot  paint  the  horrors  of  the 
struggle. 

Now,  each  of  these  forms  represented  an  Idea  of  the 
popular  consciousness  which  passed  for  a  truth,  or  it 
could  not  be  embraced ;  for  a  great  truth,  or  it  would 
not  prevail  widely ;  yes,  for  all  of  truth  the  man  could 
receive  at  the  time  he  embraced  it.  We  creep  before 
walking.  Mankind  has  likewise  an  infancy,  though  it 
will  at  length  put  away  childish  things.  Each  of  these 
forms  did  the  world  service  in  -its  day.  Its  truth  was 
permanent ;  its  error,  the  result  of  the  imperfect  develop- 
ment of  man's  faculties.  It  happens  in  religious  as  in 
scientific  matters,  that  a  doctrine  contains  both  truth 
and  falsehood.  It  is  accepted  for  its  truth  or  the 
appearance  of  truth.     At  first  the  falsehood  does  little 

^  See  Newman's  Hebrew  Monarchy.  Loncl.  1847,  ch.  IX.  Ewald 
ubi  sup.  B.  II.  p.  92,  et  seq.  Anhang  zum  2ten  Band.  III.  (1) 
p.  197,  et  seq. 


PROGRESS    OF   MANKIND.  103 

harm,  for  it  comes  in  contact  with  no  active  faculty  in 
man  which  detects  it.^  But  gradually  the  truth  does 
its  work ;  elevates  those  who  receive  it ;  new  faculties 
awake  ;  the  falsehood  is  seen  to  be  false.  The  free 
man  would  gladly  reject  it.  But  the  Priesthood,  whom 
interest  chains  to  the  old  form,  though  false ;  or  the 
People,  not  yet  elevated  enough  to  see  the  truth,  —  will 
not  allow  a  man  to  separate  the  false  from   the  true. 

^  We  often  see  the  most  strange  inconsistency  between  a  man's 
conduct  and  his  creed.  Roman  Lucretia  sacrificed  to  Venus.  The 
worshipper  of  Jupiter  did  not  imitate  his  vices  ;  nor  does  the  modern 
devotee  of  some  unholy  creed,  with  a  Christian  name,  become  what 
the  creed  logically  demands.  A  man  may  hold  doctrines  which  render 
virtue  nugatory ;  which  make  the  flesh  creep  with  horror ;  and  yet 
live  a  divine  life,  or  be  gay  even  to  frivolity.  The  late  Dr.  Hopkins 
was  a  striking  illustration  of  this  statement.  So  long  as  the  religious 
sentiment  preponderates,  the  false  doctrine  fails  of  its  legitimate  effect. 
See  some  judicious  observations  on  this  theme  in  Constant,  Liv.  I. 
Ch.  m.  lY.,  and  Polytheisme  Rom.  Vol.  I.  p.  59-81. 

M.  Comte,  Yol.  Y.  p.  280,  tliinks  the  doctrine  of  pure  Monotheism 
is  perfectly  sterile  and  incapable  of  becoming  the  basis  of  a  true 
religious  system !  Judging  only  from  experience,  his  conclusion  Is 
utterly  false.  But  such  as  might  be  expected  from  one  who  is,  as  he 
boasts,  "  equally  free  from  Fetichistic,  Polytheistic,  and  Monotheistic 
prejudices."  He  looks  longingly  to  a  time  when  all  theism  shall  have 
passed  away,  and  the  "  hj-pothesis  of  a  God "  become  exploded  ! 
But  the  true  man  of  science  is  of  all  men  most  modest  and  reverent. 
He  who  has  followed  Newton  through  the  wondrous  soaring  of  his 
genius  comes  grateful  to  that  swan-song,  beautiful  as  it  is  sublime, 
with  which  he  finishes  his  flight,  and  sings  of  the  one  cause,  eter- 
nal and  INFINITE,  who  rules  the  all.  It  cannot  be  read  without  a 
tear  of  joy.  Principia;  ed.  1833,  Yol.  TV.  p.  199,  201.  '' Et  hi 
omnes"  etc.  etc.  See  too  the  beautiful  and  pious  conclusion  of  Mr. 
Whewell  to  his  Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  Yol.  H.  p. 
582-3.  And  the  remarks  of  Descartes,  Meditations,  Med.  3,  ad  finem. 
It  was  worthy  of  Linn^us  to  say,  as  he  looked  at  a  little  flower,  Deum 
Sempiternum,  omniscium,  omnipotentem,  a  tergo  transeuntem  vidi  et 
ohsiupui. 


104  THE  TKUTH  OF  EACH  FORM. 

They  say  to  the  Prophet  and  the  Sage,  "  Thou  shall 
accept  the  old  doctrine  as  we  and  our  fathers.  It  is 
from  God  ;  the  only  Rule.  Unless  thou  accept  it  on  the 
same  authority,  and  in  the  same  way  as  ourselves,  we 
will  burn  thee  and  thy  children  with  fire.  Thou  mayst 
live  as  likest  thee ;  thou  shalt  believe  with  us."  The 
free  man  replies,  "  Burn  then  if  thou  wilt :  but  Truth 
thou  canst  not  burn  down.  A  lie  thou  canst  not  build 
up.  God  does  not  die  with  his  children,  nor  Truth 
with  its  martyrs." 

Then  as  Truth  is  stronger  than  every  lie,  and  he  that 
has  her  is  mightier  than  all  men,  so  the  fagot  of  mar- 
tyrdom proves  the  fire-pillar  of  the  human  race,  guiding 
them  from  the  bondage  and  darkness  of  Egypt  to  the 
land  of  liberty  and  light.  Truth,  armed  with  her  ar- 
rows to  smite,  her  olive  to  bless,  spreads  wide  her  wings 
amid  the  outcry  of  the  Priest  and  the  King.  At  last 
error  goes  down  to  the  ground,  but  because  honored 
beyond  her  time,  takes  with  her  temple  and  tower  in 
her  fall. 

The  Truth  represented  by  Fetichism  is  this  :  The 
unknown  God  is  present  in  Matter ;  spiritual  power  is 
the  strongest  of  forces.  Its  error  was  to  make  Matter 
God.  The  truth  of  Polytheism  is  :  God  is  present,  and 
active,  everywhere  ;  in  Space,  in  Spirit ;  breathes  in  the 
wind ;  speaks  in  the  storm  ;  inspires  to  acts  of  virtue ; 
helps  the  efforts  of  all  true  men.  Its  falsehood  was, 
that  it  divided  God,  and  gave  but  a  chaos  of  Deity. 
When  the  falsehood  was  seen  and  felt  to  be  such,  and 
its  truth  believed  in  for  itself,  on  its  own  authority,  then 
was  the  time  for  Fetichism  and  Polytheism  to  fall.  So 
they  fell,  never  to  hope  again,  for  mankind  never  apos- 
tatizes. One  generation  takes  up  the  Ark  of  Religion 
where  another  let  it  fall,  and  carries  forward  the  hope 


PROGRESS    OF   TRUTH.  105 

of  the  world.  The  old  form  never  passes  away,  till  all 
its  truth  is  transferred  to  the  new.  These  types  of  re- 
ligious progress,  are  but  the  frames  on  which  the  artist 
spreads  the  canvas,  while  he  paints  his  piece.  The 
frame  may  perish  when  this  is  done.  Fetichism  and 
Polytheism  did  good,  not  because  they  were  Fetichism 
and  Polytheism,  but  because  Religion  was  in  them  and 
they  were  steps  in  the  spiritual  progress  of  mankind  — 
indispensable  steps. 

Such,  then,  are  the  three  great  forms  of  manifestation 
assumed  by  this  religious  Element.  We  cannot  under- 
stand the  mental  and  religious  state  of  men  who  saw 
the  Divine  in  a  serpent,  a  cat,  or  an  enchanted  ring  ;  not 
even  that  of  superstitious  Christians,  who  make  earth 
a  demon-land,  and  the  one  God  but  a  King  of  Devils, 
Yet  each  religious  doctrine  has  sometime  stood  for  a 
truth.  It  was  devised  to  help  pious  hearts,  and  has 
imperfectly  accomplished  its  purpose.  It  could  not 
have  been  but  as  it  was.  Looking  carelessly  at  the 
past,  the  history  of  man's  religious  consciousness  ap- 
pears but  a  series  of  revolutions.  What  is  to-day  built 
up  with  prayers  and  tears,  is  to-morrow  pulled  down 
with  shouting  and  bloodshed,  giving  place  to  ti  new 
fabric  equally  transient.  Prophets  were  mistaken,  and 
saints  confounded.  Religious  history  is  the  tale  of  con- 
fusion. But  looking  deeper,  we  see  it  is  a  series  of  de- 
velopments, all  tending  towards  one  great  and  beautiful 
end,  the  harmonious  perfection  of  Man ;  that  in  theol- 
ogy as  in  other  science,  in  morals  as  in  theology,  the 
circle  of  his  vision  becomes  wider  continually ;  his  opin- 
ions more  true  ;  his  ideal  more  fair  and  sublime.  Each 
form  that  has  been,  bore  its  justification  in  itself ;  an 
evil  that  "  God  winked  at,"  to  use  the  bold  figure  of  a 


106  PROGRESS    OF   TRUTH. 

great  man.     It  was  natural   and   indispensable  in  its 
time  and  place  ;  a  part  of  the  scheme  of  agencies  pro- 
vided from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world.     Each 
form   may   perish  ;  but  its  truth   never  dies.     Nations 
pass   away.     A  handful  of  red  dust  alone   marks   the 
spot  where  a  metropolis  opened  its  hundred  gates  ;  but 
Religion  does  not  perish.     Cities  and  nations  mark  the 
steps   of  her  progress.     A  nation,  at  the   head  of  the 
civilized  world,  organizes  Religion  as  well  as  it  can  ; 
perpetuates  and  diffuses  its  truth,  and  thus  preaches  the 
advent  of  a  higher  faith,  and  prepares  its  way.     Each 
failure  is  a  prophecy  of  the  Perfect.     But  the  change 
from  faith  to  faith  is  attended  with  persecution  on  the 
one  side,  and  martyrdom  on  the  other.     A  little  philos- 
ophy turns  men  from  Religion.     Much  knowledge  re- 
stores them  to  their  faith,  to  the  bosom  of  Piety.     The 
great  men  of  the  world,  men  gifted  with  the   deepest 
insight,  and  living  the  most  royal  life,  have  been  Man's 
pioneers  in  these  steps   of  progress.     Moses,    Hermes, 
Confucius,    Budha,    Zoroaster,    Anaxagoras,    Socrates, 
Plato,   have    lent    their    holy   hands  in    Man'-s   greatest 
work.     Religion  filled  their  soul  with  strength  and  hght. 
It  is  only  little  men,  that  make  wide  the  mouth,  and 
draw   out    tlie   tongue   at  pure   and  genuine  piety  and 
nobleness  of  heart.     Shall  we  not  judge  the  world,  as  a 
rose,  by  its  best  side  ?     God,  of  his  wisdom,  raises  up 
men   of  religious    genius  ;  heaven-sent  prophets  ;  born 
fully  armed   and    fitted  for  their  fearful   work.     They 
have  an  eye  to  see  through  the  reverend  hulls  of  falsity ; 
to  detect  the  truth  a  long  way  off.     They   send  their 
eagle  gaze  far  down  into  the  heart ;  far  on  into  the  fu- 
ture, thinking  for  ages  not  yet  born.     The  word  comes 
from  God  with  blessed  radiance  upon  their  mind.    They 
must  speak  the  tidings  from  on  high,  and  shed  its  beamy 


V  RELIGION   IN    EVERY   AGE.  107 

light  on  men  around,  till  the  heavy  lids  are  opened,  and 
the  sleepy  eye  beholds.  But  alas  for  him  who  moves 
in  such  work.  If  there  be  not  superhuman  might  to 
sustain  him  ;  if  his  soul  be  not  naked  of  selfishness,  he 
will  say  often,  "  Alas  for  me !  Would  God  my  mother 
had  died  or  ever  I  was  born  to  bear  all  the  burdens  of  the 
world,  and  right  its  wrongs."     He  that  feareth  the  Lord 

—  when  was  not  he  a  prey  ?  He  must  take  his  life  in 
his  hand,  and  become  as  a  stranger  to  men.  But  if  he 
fall  and  perish,  it  is  his  gain.  Is  it  not  also  the  world's  ? 
It  is  the  burning  wood  that  warms  men. 

In  passing  judgment  on  these  different  religious  states, 
we  are  never  to  forget,  that  there  is  no  monopoly  of  re- 
ligious emotion  by  any  nation  or  any  age.  He  that 
worships  truly,  by  whatever  form,  worships  the  Only 
God  ;  He  hears  the  prayer,  whether  called  Brahma, 
Jehovah,  Pan,  or  Lord  ;  or  called  by  no  name  at  all. 
Each  people  has  its  Prophets  and  its  Saints  ;  and  many 
a  swarthy  Indian,  who  bowed  down  to  wood  and  stone ; 
many  a  grim-faced  Calmuck,  who  worshipped  the 
great  God  of  Storms  ;  many  a  Grecian  peasant,  who 
did  homage  to  Phoebus- Apollo  when  the  Sun  rose  or 
went  down  ;  yes,  many  a  savage,  his  hands  smeared  all 
over  with  human  sacrifice,  shall  come  from  the  East 
and  the  West,  and  sit  down  in  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
with  Moses  and    Zoroaster,  with  Socrates  and  Jesus, 

—  while  men,  who  called  daily  on  the  only  living  God, 
who  paid  their  tribute  and  bowed  at  the  name  of 
Christ,  shall  be  cast  out,  because  they  did  no  more. 
Men  are  to  be  judged  by  what  is  given,  not  what  is 
withheld. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

OP  CERTAIN  DOCTRINES  CONNECTED  WITH  RELIGION.  I.  OP 
THE  PRIMITIVE  STATE  OF  MANKIND.  II.  OF  THE  IM- 
MORTALITY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

I.     Of  the  Primitive  State  of  Mankind. 

Various  theories  have  been  connected  with  Religion, 
respecting  the  origin  and  primitive  condition  of  the  hu- 
man race.  Many  nations  have  claimed  to  be  the  primi- 
tive possessors  of  their  native  soil ;  Autochthones,  who 
sprang  miraculously  out  of  the  ground,  were  descended 
from  stones,  grasshoppers,  emmets  or  other  created 
things.  Others  call  themselves  Children  of  the  Gods.^ 
Some  nations  trace  back  their  descent  to  a  time  of  ut- 
ter barbarism,  whence  the  Gods  recalled  them  ;  others 
start  from  a  golden  age,  as  the  primitive  condition  of 
men.2     The  latter  opinion  prevailed  with  the  Hebrews, 

^  Diodorus  Siculus  says,  somewliere,  all  ancient  nations  claim  to  be 
the  most  ancient. 

^  See  the  heathen  view  of  this  in  Hesiod,  Opera  et  Dies.  Lucre- 
tius, Y.  923,  et  seq.  Virgil,  Georg.  I.  125,  et  seq.  Eel.  IV.  Ovid, 
Met.  I.  89,  et  seq.  Plato,  Polit.  p.  271,  et  seq.  See  Hevne,  Opusc. 
Vol.  III.  p.  24,  et  seq.  Hesiod's  Theog.  521-579.  See  other  paral- 
lels in  Bauer's  Mvthologie  des  A.  T.  etc.  Vol.  I.  p.  85,  et  seq.  See 
also  the  curious  speculations  of  Eichhorn,  (Urgeschichte  ed.  Gabler.)  ; 
(108) 


PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF   MANKIND.  109 

from  whom  the  Christians  have  derived  it.  According 
to  them,  the  primitive  state  was  one  of  the  highest  felic- 
ity, from  which  men  fell ;  the  primitive  worship,  there- 
fore, must  have  been  the  normal  Religion  of  mankind.^ 
This  question  then  presents  itself:  From  what  point 
did  the  human  race  set  out ;  from  civilization  and  the 
true  worship  of  one  God,  or  from  cannibalism  and  the 
deification  of  Nature  ?  Has  the  human  race  fallen  or 
risen  ?  The  question  is  purely  historical,  and  to  be 
answered  by  historical  witnesses.  But  in  the  presence, 
and  still  more  in  the  absence,  of  such  witnesses,  the  d 
priori  doctrines  of  the  man's  philosophy  affect  his  de- 
cision. Reasoning  with  no  facts  is  easy,  as  all  motion 
in  vacuo.  The  analogy  of  the  geological  formation  of 
the  earth  ;  its  gradual  preparation,  so  to  say,  for  the 
reception  of  plants  and  animals,  the  ruder  first,  and  then 
the  more  complex  and  beautiful,  till  at  last  she  opens 
her  bosom  to  man,  —  this,  in  connection  with  many 
similar  analogies,  would  tend  to  show  that  a  similar 
order  was  to  be  expected  in  the  affairs  of  men  ;  de- 
velopment from  the  lower  to  the  higher,  and  not  the 
reverse.^  In  strict  accordance  with  this  analogy,  some 
have  taught  that  Man  was  created  in  the  lowest  stage 
of  savage   life ;    his    Religion  the   rudest   worship   of 

Biittmann  (Mythologus),  and  Hartmann,  (iiber  des  Pentateuch). 
Compare  Rosenmiiller,  Alterthumskunde,  Vol.  I.  Part  I.  p.  180,  et 
seq.  and  the  striking  passage  in  Kleuker's  Zenda vesta,  Vol.  11.  p.  211, 
227,  et  seq. ;  III.  p.  85.  See  Rhode's  remarks  upon  the  passages, 
ubi  sup.,  p.  388,  et  seq.     See  Bauer,  Dicta  Classica,  §  52. 

^  See  the  opinions  of  Zoroaster  on  this  point  collected  by  Bretsch- 
neider,  Darstellung  der  Dogmatik,  etc.,  der  Apoc.  Schriften,  Vol.  I.  § 
52,  p.  286,  et  seq. 

'^  See  Vestiges  of  the  Natural  History  of  Creation;  Lond.,  1844, 
1st  ed.  p.  277,  et  seq.  for  some  curious  remarks. 

10 


110  PRIMITIVE   STATE   OF   MANKIND. 

nature ;  his  Morality  that  of  the  cannibal  ;  that  all  of 
the  civilized  races  have  risen  from  this  point,  and  grad- 
ually passed  through  Fetichism  and  Polytheism,  before 
they  reached  refinement  and  true  Religion;  the  spiritual 
man  is  the  gradual  development  of  germs  latent  in  the 
natural  man.^ 

Another  party,  consisting  more  of  poets  and  dog- 
matists than  of  philosophers,  teaches  the  opposite 
doctrine,  that  a  single  human  pair  was  created  in  the 
full  majority   of  their  powers,  with  a  perfect  Morality 

*  See  Comte,  Vol.  V.  p.  32,  et  al.  Here  arises  the  kindred  question, 
Have  all  the  human  race  descended  from  a  single  pair,  or  started  up 
in  the  various  parts  of  the  earth  where  we  find  them  ?  The  first 
opinion  has  been  defended  by  the  Christian  church,  in  general  with 
more  obstinacy  than  argument.  Pritchard,  ubi  sup.,  derives  all  from 
one  stock,  and  collects  many  interesting  facts  relative  to  the  himian 
race  in  various  conditions.  But  the  unity  of  the  race  is  not  to  be 
made  out  genealogically.  It  is  essential  to  the  nature  of  mankind. 
Augustine  has  some  curious  speculations  on  this  head,  De  civitate  Dei. 
Xn.  21.  Xni.  19-23.  XIV.  10-12,  16-26.  Lactantlus,  Institut.  H. 
11.  Vn.  4.  See  the  opinions  of  Buddeus,  and  the  curious  literature 
he  cites.  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  V.  T.  Vol.  I.  p.  92,  et  seq.  On  the  other 
hand,  Palfrey's  Academical  Lectures,  Vol.  H.  Lect.  XXI.-XXII. 
Kant,  von  der  Racen  der  Menschen  :  Werke,  Vol.  VI.  p.  313,  et  seq. 
Begriif  einer  Menschenrace ;  ib.  p.  33,  et  seq.  Muthmaaslicher  An- 
fang  der  Menschengeschichte ;  ib.  Vol.  VII.  p.  363,  et  seq.  Even 
Schleiermacher  departs  from  the  common  view.  Christliche  Glaube, 
§  60-61.  See,  likewise,  the  ingenious  observations  of  Samuel  S. 
Smith,  Inquiry  into  the  causes  of  different  Complexions,  etc.  of  the 
human  Race.  To  make  out  the  case,  that  all  men  are  descended  from 
a  primitive  pair,  it  is  only  necessary  to  assume,  philosophically,  a  prin- 
ciple in  the  first  man,  whence  all  varieties  may  be  derived,  and  then, 
historically,  to  assume  the  derivation,  and  the  vicious  circle  is  com- 
plete. Karnes  has  some  disingenuous  remarks,  in  his  History  of  Man. 
Preliminary  Discourse.  See  Memoires  de  I'Academie  royale  des 
Sciences  morales  et  politiques;  (Paris,)  1841,  Tom.  IH.  p.  XXHI.  et 
seq.  and  the  literature  referred  to. 


PKIMITIVE    STATE    OF   MANKIND.  Ill 

and  Religion;  that  they /e/Z  from  this  state,  and  while 
some  few  kept  alive  the  lamp  of  Truth,  and  passed  it 
on  from  hand  to  hand,  that  the  mass  sunk  into  bar- 
barity and  sin,  whence  they  are  slowly  emerging,  aided 
of  course  by  the  traditional  torch  of  Truth,  still  kept 
by  their  more  fortunate  brothers.^ 

Now  in  favor  of  this  latter  opinion  there  is  no 
direct  historical  testimony  except  the  legendary  and 
mythological  writings  of  the  Hebrews,  which  have 
no  more  authority  in  the  premises  than  the  simi- 
lar narratives  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  Persians,  and 
Chinese.  If  we  assume  the  miraculous  authority 
of  these  legends,  the  matter  ends  —  in  an  assump- 
tion. The  indirect  testimony  in  favor  of  this  doc- 
trine  is   this :  The    opinion,  found   in    many    nations, 

^  See  this,  which  is  the  prevalent  opinion,  set  forth  by  Knapp,  ubi 
sup.  Vol.  I.  §  54-57.  Hahn,  Lehrbuch  des  Christ.  Glaub.  §  74-75. 
Tholuck,  in  Biblical  Repository,  Vol.  11.  p.  119,  et  seq.     Hopkins's 

System  of  Doctrines,  etc.  2d  edit.  Vol.  I.  Part  I.  chap.  V.  VIII. 

Bretschnelder,  Dogmatik,  4th  edit.  Vol.  I.  §  112,  et  seq.,  gives  the 
Lutheran  view  of  tliis  subject,  hut  thinks  Oken  no  heretic  for  maintain- 
ing (in  the  Tsis  for  1819,  Vol.  II.  p.  1118),  that  man  may  have  arisen 
from  an  embryo,  zvith  human  qualities,  in  the  slime  of  the  sea  !  p.  812. 
See  Jeremy  Taylor,  Doctrine  and  Practice  of  Repentance,  chap.  VI., 
and  the  conflicting  remarks  in  the  Sermon  at  the  Funeral  of  Sir 
George  Dalston.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Original  Sin,  Part  II.  chap.  I. 
and  Notes  on  Bible ;  Works,  Lond.  1839,  Vol.  II.  p.  689,  et  seq. 
More  on  the  same  subject  may  be  seen  in  Faber's  Horae  Mosaicse. 
Edwards,  On  the  Truth  and  Authority  of  the  Scriptures.  Collier's 
Lectures  on  Scripture  Facts.  Gray's  connection  between  Sacred  and 
Profane  Literature.  Cormack's  Inquiry.  Fletcher's  Appeal.  Deane's 
Worship  of  the  Serpent,  etc.  etc.  Senac,  Christianisme  dans  ses  Rap- 
ports avec  la  Civilization  moderne;  Paris,  1837,  Vol.  I.  pt.  I.  ch.  11. 
See  the  opinions  of  the  Ancients  on  the  creation  and  primitive  state 
of  Man,  collected  in  Grotius,  De  Veritate.  ed.  Clericus,  Lib.  I. 
§16. 


112  PRIMITIVE   STATE   OF   MANKIND. 

that  there  had  once  been  a  golden  age.  Now,  if  this 
opinion  were  universal,  it  would  not  prove  the  fact 
alleged,  for  it  can  easily  be  explained  from  the  notorious 
tendency  of  men,  in  a  low  state  of  civilization,  to  ag- 
grandize the  past ;  the  senses  delight  to  remember. 
That  opinion  only  serves  to  illustrate  this  tendency. 
The  sensual  Greek  often  looked  longingly  backward  to 
the  Golden  Age ;  but  the  more  spiritual  prophet  of  the 
Hebrews  looks  forward  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  yet 
to  be.  But  the  opinion  prevails  among  many  nations, 
that  they  have  slowly  advanced  from  a  ruder  state.^ 

Again,  it  is  often  alleged,  that  no  nation  has  ever 
risen  out  of  the  savage  state  except  under  the  influence 
of  tribes  previously  enlightened  —  an  historical  thesis 
which  has  never  been  proved.  No  one  knows  whence 
the  Chinese,  the  Mexicans,  the  Peruvians,  derived  as- 
sistance. We  have  yet  to  be  told  who  taught  the 
Greenlander  to  build  his  boat ;  the  Otaheitan  to  fashion 
his  war  club  ;  the  Sacs  and  Pawnees  to  handle  the 
hatchet,  cook  the  flesh  of  the  buffalo,  and  wear  his 
skin.  Besides,  it  is  begging  the  question,  to  say  the 
civilization  of  Rome,  Athens,  Tyre,  Judea,  Egypt, 
Babylon,  Nineveh,  came  from  the  traditionary  knowledge 
of  some  primitive  people.  If  a  savage  nation  in  seven 
centuries  can  learn  to  use  oil  and  tallow^  for  light,  in  a 
time  sufficiently  long  it  may  write  the  lUad,  and  build 
the  Parthenon. 

Again,  it  is  said  that  traces  of  Monotheism  are  found 
even  in  the  low  stages   of  our  religious  history.     This 

1  Strauss,  Die  Christ.  Glaubenslehre ;  1840-1,  Vol.  I.  §  45,  et  seq. 
decides  against  the  hypothesis  of  a  single  pair,  and  even  ascribes  the 
origin  of  man  to  the  power  of  equivocal  generation.  But  his  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  latter  have  little  or  no  weight.  See  Karnes, 
ubi  sup. 


PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF   MANKIND.  113 

must  neccesarily  follow  from  the  identity  of  the  human 
race  ;  from  the  Sentiment  and  Idea  of  God,  expressing 
themselves  spontaneously.  If  Man  is  the  same  in  all 
ages,  differing  only  in  degree  of  development,  and  this 
element  is  natural  to  him,  then  we  must  expect  to  find 
such  expressions  of  it  in  the  poets  and  philosophers  ;  in 
the  religion  of  India,  Greece,  and  Rome.  Men  of  the 
same  spiritual  elevation  see  everywhere  the  same 
spiritual  truth.  If  this  doctrine  of  Monotheism  pro- 
ceed from  tradition  alone,  then  it  must  be  more  clear 
and  distinct  as  we  approach  the  source  of  the  tradition. 
But  this  is  notoriously  contrary  to  facts.^ 

The  opposite  doctrine  has  no  more  of  direct  historical 
testimony  in  its  favor  ;  but  is  supported  by  many  in- 
direct testimonies  :  by  the  fact,  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  human  race  are  still  in  the  condition  of  Feti- 
chism  and  Polytheism,  and  that  the  further  we  go  back  in 
history  the  worse  is  this  state,  and  the  ruder  their  re- 
ligion. In  the  days  of  Herodotus,  the  proportion  of 
rude  and  savage  people  was  far  greater  than  at  this 
day.  Even  in  that  nation  alleged  to  be  most  highly 
favored,  we  find  their  social,  moral,  and  religious  condi- 
tion is  more  rude  the  further  we  trace  it  back.  They 
and  other  nations,  at  the  time  we  first  meet  them  in 
history,  bordered  close  upon  the  Fetichistic  state  to 
which  their  mythology  refers.  No  nation  has  ever  been 
found  in  a  normal  state  of  religious  culture. 

If  we  reason  only  from  established  facts,  we  must 
'^'onclude,  that  the  hypothesis  of  a  golden  age,  a  gar- 
den of  Eden,  a  perfect  condition  of  man    on   the  earth 

^Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Moeurs,  etc.;  edit.  1785,  Vol.  I.  p.  17, 
et  seq.  29,  et  seq.  has  many  just  remarks  on  the  ruder  periods  of 
society. 

10* 


114  IMMORTALITY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

in  ancient  times,  is  purely  gratuitous.  The  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  is  not  behind  but  before  us.  No  one  can 
determine,  by  historical  evidence,  what  was  the  primi- 
tive state  of  the  human  race,  or  when,  or  where,  or 
how  mankind,  at  the  command  of  God,  came  into  ex- 
istence.    Here  our  conclusions  can  be  only  negative.^ 

11.    On  the  Immortalily  of  the  Soul. 

The  doctrine  that  Man  lives  forever  seems  almost 
as  general  as  the  belief  in  a  God.  Like  that,  it  comes 
naturally  from  an  eternal  desire  in  the  human  heart ;  a 
longing  after  the  Infinite.  In  the  rudest  nations  and 
the  most  civilized,  this  doctrine  appears.  Perhaps 
there  has  never  been  but  a  single  form  of  Religion 
among  civilized  men  under  which  it  was  not  taught 
plainly  and  distinctly,  and  here  it  was  continually 
implied.  It  seems  we  have  by  nature  a  sentiment  of 
immortality ;  an  instinctive  belief  therein.  Rude 
nations,  in  whom  instinct  seems  to  predominate,  trust 
the  spontaneous  belief.  They  construct  an  ideal  world, 
in  which  the  shade  of  the  departed  pursues  his  calling 
and  finds  justice  at  the  last;  recompense  for  his  toil; 
right  for  his  earthly  wrongs.  The  conception  of  the  form 
of  future  life  depends  on  the  condition  and  character  of 

^  Constant,  Liv.  I.  ch.  YI.  and  X.  ch.  VI.  treats  this  subject  with  a 
superficiality  unusual  even  with  him.  He  thinks,  the  doctrine  of  a 
Fall  is  a  device  of  the  Priesthood,  at  least,  that  it  owes  its  impor- 
tance and  continuation  to  the  sacerdotal  class.  See  some  admirable 
remarks  on  the  savage  state  in  de  Maistre,  Soirees  de  St  Petersburg, 
Vol.  I.  See  also  Leroux's  criticism  on  the  opinions  of  Jouffroy  and 
Pascal  in  his  Refutation  de  I'Eclecticism ;  1840,  p.  330,  et  seq. 
Leroux  believes  in  the  progress  of  all  species,  Min,  the  Beaver,  and 
the  Bee.  M.  Maret,  ubi  sup.  p.  30,  et  seq.  and  240,  et  seq.  makea 
some  very  judicious  observations. 


IMMORTALITY   OF   THE    SOUL.  115 

the  believer.  Hence  it  is  a  state  of  war  or  peace ;  of 
sensual  or  spiritual  delight ;  of  reform  or  progress, 
with  different  nations.  The  notion  formed  of  the  nex\ 
world  is  the  index  of  man's  state  in  this.  Here  the 
Idolater  and  the  Pantheist,  the  Mahometan  and  the 
Christian,  express  their  conflicting  views  of  life.  The 
Sentiment  and  Idea  of  immortality  may  be  true,  but 
the  definite  conception  must  be  mainly  subjective  and 
therefore  false.  In  a  low  stage  of  civilization  the  doc- 
trine, like  the  religious  feelings  themselves,  seems  to  have 
but  litde  moral  influence  on  life.  It  presents  no  motive 
to  virtue,  and  therefore  does  not  receive  the  same  place 
in  their  system,  as  at  a  subsequent  period. 

In  rude  ages,  men  reason  but  little.  As  they  begin 
to  be  civilized  they  ask  proofs  of  Immortality,  not 
satisfied  with  the  instinctive  feeling;  not  convinced 
that  infinite  Goodness  will  do  what  is  best  for  all  and 
each  of  his  creatures.  Hence  come  doubts  on  this 
head ;  inquiries ;  attempts  to  prove  the  doctrine ;  a 
denial  of  it.  There  seems  an  antithesis  between  in- 
stinct and  understanding.  The  reasoning'  of  men  is 
then  against  it,  but  when  an  accident  drives  them  to 
somewhat  more  fundamental  than  processes  of  logic, 
the  instinctive  belief  does  its  work.  Here  then  are 
three  distinct  things  :  a  Belief  in  a  future  and  immortal 
state  ;  a  Definite  Conception  of  that  state  ;  and  a  Proof 
of  the  fact  of  a  future  and  immortal  state.  The  two 
latter  may  be  fluctuating  and  inadequate,  while  the 
former  remains  secure. 

Now  it  may  be  considered  as  pretty  well  fixed,  that 
all  nations  of  the  earth,  above  the  mere  wild  man, 
believe  this  doctrine  ;  at  least,  the  exceptions  are  so 
rare,  that  they  only  confirm  the  rule.  However,  it  is 
often  difficult,  and  sometimes  impossible  to  determine 


116  OPINION   OF   THE   HEBREWS 

the  popular  conception,  and  the  influence  of  this  belief 
at  a  particular  time  and  place.  But  the  subject  de- 
mands a  more  special  and  detailed  examination.  Let 
us  look  at  the  opinion  of  the  ancients. 

I.    Opinion  of  the  Hebrews  respecting  a  Future  State. 

It  has  sometimes  been  taught  that  this  doctrine 
was  perfectly  understood,  even  by  the  Patriarchs ;  and 
sometimes  declared  altogether  foreign  to  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. Both  statements  are  incorrect.  In  some 
parts  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  we  find  rude  notions 
of  a  future  state,  but  a  firm  belief  in  it ;  in  others 
doubt,  and  even  denial  thereof.  In  the  early  books, 
at  least,  it  never  appears  as  a  motive.  It  has  no 
sanction  in  the  Law ;  no  symbol  in  the  Jewish  worship. 
The  soul  was  sometimes  placed  in  the  bloody  as  by 
Empedocles;^  sometimes  in  the  breath;'^  the  heart, 
or  the  bowels  were  sometimes  considered  as  its  seat.^ 
The  notion  of  immortality  was  indefinite  in  the  early 
books  ;  there  are  cloudy  views  of  a  subterranean  world,^ 
which  gradually  acquire  more  distinctness.  The  state 
of  the  departed  is  a  gloomy,  joyless  consciousness ;  the 
servant  is  free  from  his  master ;  the  king  has  a  shadowy 
grandeur.^     The  dead  prophet  can  be  called  back  to 

1  Gen.  IX.  4 ;  Lev.  XVII.  11 ;  Deut.  XII.  23.  See  Cicero,  Tusc. 
Lib.  I.  Ch.  9,  10. 

2  Gen.  II.  7  ;  Ps.  CIV.  29,  et  al. 

«  Deut.  XXXII.  46  ;  Ps.  VII.  10  ;  Ps.  XVL  7 ;  Prov.  XXIH.  16, 
et  al. 

*  Gen.  XXV.  8,  XXXVIL  35;  Num.  XVI  30,  33.  In  Job, 
Isaiah,   and   the  Psalms   this   becomes   more   definite.     Job   X.  21, 

xxxvm.  17. 

6  Job  III.  13-19  ;  Isaiah  XIV.;  Ezek.  XXXU.;  1  Sam.  XXVIIL 
See  Homer,  Od.  XI.  Virgil,  ^neid,  VI. 


RESPECTING  A  FUTURE  STATE.  117 

admonish  the  living.  Enoch  and  Elijah,  like  Gany- 
mede with  the  Greeks,  being  favorites  of  the  deity,^ 
are  taken  miraculously  to  him.  Other  passages  deny 
the  doctrine  of  immortality  with  great  plainness.^ 

After  the  return  from  exile,  the  doctrine  appears 
more  definitely.  Ezekie],  and  the  pseudo-Isaiah^  allude 
to  a  resurrection  of  the  body,  a  notion  which  is  perhaps 
of  Zoroastrian  origin.'^  Perhaps  older  than  Zoroaster. 
But  it  is  only  a  doubtful  immortality  that  is  taught  in 
the  apocryphal  book  of  Ecclesiasticus,  though  in  the 
Wisdom    of    Solomon,^    and   in    the    fourth    book    of 

^  See  also  Ps.  XVII.  15 ;  LXXIII.  24.  See  the  mistakes  of 
Michaelis  respecting  this  doctrine  of  immortaUty,  in  his  Argumenta 
immortalitate,  ...  ex  Mose  collecta,  in  his  Syntagma  Comment.  Vol. 
I.  p.  80,  et  seq.  See  his  notes  on  Lowth,  p.  465,  ed.  Rosenmiiller. 
Warburton  founds  his  strange  hypothesis  on  the  opposite  view.  See 
on  this  point,  Bauer,  Dicta  classica.  Vol.  II.  §  56,  et  seq.,  de  Wette, 
ubi  sup.  §  113,  et  seq.  Lessing,  Beytragen  aus  der  Wolfe nbiittelschen 
Bibliothek,  Vol.  IV.  p.  484,  et  seq.  See  the  moderate  and  judicious 
remarks  of  Knapp,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  §  149.  See  Henkes  Mag.  fiir 
Rehglons  Philosophic,  Vol.  V.  pt.  I.  p.  16,  et  seq.  and  a  treatise  in 
the  Studien  und  Kritiken  for  1830,  Vol.  II.  p.  884,  et  seq. 

2  Eccles.  III.  19-21  ;  IX.  10.  In  Job  XIV.  10-14,  et  al,  Job  dis- 
tinctly denies  the  immortality  which  he  had  previously  affirmed,  but 
this  shows  the  exquisite  art  of  the  poem.  See  de  Wette,  Introduction 
to  O.  T.,  Vol.  II.  p.  556-557,  note  a.  Perhaps  the  opinions  put  into 
Job's  mouth  are  not  those  of  the  Author  but  such  only  as  he  thought 
the  circumstances  of  his  hero  required. 

3  Ezek.  XXXVII. ;  Isa.  XXVI.  19.     See  Gesenius  in  loco. 

*  Rhode,  ubi  sup.  p.  494,  Nork,  Mythen  der  alten  Perser ;  1835,  p. 
148,  et  seq.  Priestley,  ubi  sup.  §  XXIII.  Bretschneider,  ubi  sup.  § 
58,  p.  325,  et  seq. 

^  I.  15,  16  ;  II.  22  —III.  et  seq. ;  V.  15  ;  VI.  18.  It  is  connected 
with  a  j)reexistent  state,  VIII.  19-20.  The  2d  Book  of  Esdras  is 
quite  remarkable  for  the  view  it  presents  of  this  doctrine.  See  11. 
23,  31,  34,  35  ;  IV.  40,  et  seq. ;  VII.  13,  27-35,  42,  et  seq. ;  VIII.  1, 


118  OPINION   OF  THE  HEBREWS 

Maccabees,  it  is  set  forth  with  great  clearneijs.^  The 
second  book  of  Maccabees  teaches  in  the  plainest  terms 
the  resurrection  of  all  ;  the  righteous  to  happiness,  the 
wicked  to  shame.^  They  will  find  their  former  friends, 
and  resume  their  old  pursuits.*^      Nothing  is  plainer. 

At  the  time  of  Jesus,  the  Pharisees  believed  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body ;  a  state  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments.^ Some  of  them  connected  it  with  the  com- 
mon notion  of  the  transmigration  of  souls ;  ^  perhaps 
with  that  of  preexistence.  The  Essenes,  still  more  phi- 
losophically, taught  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  certainty  of  retribution,  without  the  resurrection  of 
the  body.  The  soul  is  formed  of  the  most  subtle  air, 
and  is  confined  in  the  body  as  in  a  prison ;  death  re- 
deems it  from  a  long  bondage,  and  the  living  soul  mounts 

et  seq.  et  al.  But  the  character  and  date  of  the  book  prevent  me 
from  using  it  in  the  text. 

^  XV.  3;  XVI.  25;  XVII.  18,  et  al.  de  Wette,  ubi  sup.  §  180. 
See  the  remarkable  passage  in  4th  Esdras,  which  Fabricius  has  added 
from  the  Arabic  Version  Codex  pseudepigraphus ;  ed  alt.  Hamb. 
1741,  Vol.  II.  p.  235,  et  seq.  However,  it  may  have  been  added  by  a 
Christian.  In  the  Psalter  of  Solomon,  it  is  said  they  that  fear  the 
Lord  shall  rise  again  to  everlasting  life.  See  Ch.  XIV.  2,  et  seq.,  and 
XV.  in  Fabricius  ubi  sup.  Vol  I.  p.  926,  954,  et  seq.  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  determine  the  date  of  this  apocrj  phal  book. 

2  VII.  9,  11,  14,  23  ;  XII.  43,  et  seq. ;  XV.  12,  et  seq. 

^  See  in  Eichhorn,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  IV.  p.  653,  et  seq.,  a  valuable  con- 
ti'ibution  to  the  History  of  this  doctrine  by  Frisch.  He  makes  an  in- 
genious comparison  of  passages  from  the-  Apocrypha,  and  the  New  Tes- 
tament. The  same  doctrine  is  taught  in  both.  See  Flatt,  in  Paulus, 
Memorabil.  st.  II.  p.  157  et  seq.  Bretschneider,  ubi  sup.  §  53-58. 

*  Acts  XXm.  6-8 ;  XXIV.  15  ;  Matth.  XXII.  24,  et  seq. ;  JMark 
XH.  19,  et  seq. 

^  Josephus,  Wars,  11.  8,  14.  Josephus  may  have  added  the  Metem- 
psychosis to  suit  the  taste  of  his  readers. 


RESPECTING  A  FUTURE  STATE.  119 

upward  rejoicing.^  We  find  similar  views  in  Philo.^ 
Perhaps  they  were  common  in  reflecting  minds  at  the 
time  of  Jesus,  who  always  presupposes  a  belief  in  im- 
mortality. The  Sadducees  alone  opposed  it.  Such 
were  the  beginning  and  history  of  this  dogma  with  the 
Jews.     Its  progress  and  formation  are  obvious. 


II.    Of  this  Doctrine  among  the  Heathen  Nations. 

Among  savage  nations  this  belief  is  common.  It 
appears  in  prayers  and  offerings  for  the  dead  ;  in  the 
mode  of  burial.  The  savage  American  deposits  in  the 
tomb  the  bow  and  the  pipe,  the  dress  and  the  toma- 
hawk of  the  deceased  warrior.     The  Scythian,  the  Goth, 

^  Josephus,  Wars,  11.  8,  11.  Josephus  himself  seems  to  agree  with 
this  opinion,  when  he  "  talks  like  a  philosopher,"  in  his  pretended 
speech,  Wars,  III.  8,  5.  See  Buddeus,  ubi  sup.  11.  p.  1202,  et  seq., 
Paulus  Memorabil.,  Yol.  11.  p.  157,  et  seq.  and  de  Wette,  ubi  sup.  § 
1 78,  et  seq. 

^  See  also  the  views  of  Philo,  De  Somniis  ;  p.  586.  De  Abrah,  p. 
385.  De  Mundi  Opif.  p.  31.  The  soul  is  immortal  by  nature,  not  by 
grace.  See  Dahne,  Geschichthche  Darstellung  der  Judischen,  — 
Alexand.  Philosophie,  etc.  1834,  Vol.  I.  p.  330,  et  seq.,  405,  485,  et 
seq.,  who  cites  the  above  and  other  proof  passages.  -Ritter,  ubi  sup. 
Vol.  IV.  See  AVeizel  on  the  primitive  doctrine  of  immortality  among 
the  Christians,  in  Theol.  Stud,  und  Kritiken,  for  1836,  p.  957,  et  seq. 
Constant,  Liv.  IX.  Ch.  VII.  makes  some  just  remarks  on  this  subject. 
On  the  state  of  opinions  in  the  time  of  Christ,  see  Gfrorer.,  Jahrhun- 
dert  des  Heils  ;  1838.  Vol.  II.  Ch.  VII.  Triglandius  de  tribus  Ju- 
dasorum  sectis,  in  quo  Serarii,  Drusii,  Scaligeri,  Opuscula,  etc. ;  1703, 
Vol.  I.  Part  I.  Lib.  II.  and  III.  Part.  II.  Lib.  II.-IV.  and  ScaHger's 
Animadversions ;  and  the  very  valuable  treatise  of  Leclerc,  Prolego- 
mena ad  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  I.  Ch.  I.  See  Fliigge,  Geschichte  des  Glau- 
bens  an  Unsterblichkeit,  etc.  etc. ;  Leip.  1 794,  Vol.  I.  p.  112-160,  201- 
251,  et  passim.  Bouchitte  Mem.  de  I'Institut.  Savans  etrangeres  tom. 
n.  p.  621,  et  seq. 


120  OPINION    OF   THE   HEATHEN 

the  Indian,  and  the  half-barbarous  Greek,  burned  or 
buried  the  horse,  or  the  servant,  the  wife,  or  the  captive 
of  a  great  man  at  his  decease,  that  he  might  go  down  roy- 
ally attended  to  the  realm  of  shades.  Metempsychosis  ; 
the  deification  of  the  dead,  ceremonies  in  their  honor, 
gifts  left  on  their  tombs,  oaths  confirmed  in  their  name, 
are  all  signs  of  this  belief.^  The  Egyptians,  the  Gauls, 
and  Scandinavians  spoke  of  death  as  the  object  of  life.^ 
Lucan  foolishly  thinks  the  latter  are  brave  because  they 
believe  in  endless  existence. 

Each  savage  people  has  its  place  of  souls.  Death 
with  them  is  not  an  extinction,  but  a  change  of  life. 
The  tomb  is  a  sacred  place.  No  expense  is  too  great 
for  the  dead.  The  picture  of  Heaven  is  earth  embel- 
lished. At  first,  the  next  world  is  not  a  domain  of 
moral  justice  ;  God  has  no  tribunal  of  judgment.  But 
with  the  advance  of  the  present,  the  conception  of  a 
future  state  rises  also.  The  Pawnees  have  but  one 
place  for  all  the  departed.  The  Scandinavians  have 
two,  Nifleheim  and  Nastrond  ;  the  Persians  seven ;  the 
Hindoos  no  less  than  twenty-four,  for  different  degrees 
of  merit.'^     "With    many    savages,    the  good    and    evil 

^  See  Lafitau,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  11.  p.  387,  et  seq.,  410,  et  seq.,  420,  et 
seq.,  444,  et  seq..  Vol.  I.  p.  359,  et  seq.,  507,  et  seq.  Catlin,  ubi  sup. 
Vol.  I.  Bancroft's  Hist.  Vol.  in.  Ch.  XXII.  Constant,  Livre  IX.  Ch. 
VII.  VIII.  Livre  II.  Ch.  IV.  Martin,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p.  18,  56,  329 ; 
Vol.  11.  p.  212,  et  seq.  United  States  Exploring  Expedition;  Phil. 
1845-6.  Vol.  Vn.  p.  63,  et  seq.,  99,  et  seq.  et  al.  For  the  Fetichism  of 
the  Savages,  see  p.  1 6,  et  seq.,  26,  et  seq.,  51 ,  et  seq.,  9  7,  et  seq.,  1 1 0,  et  seq. 

^  On  the  belief  of  the  Scandinavians,  the  Caledonians,  the  Parsees, 
Indians,  etc.  See  Fliigge,  Vol.  11.  The  ancient  Lithuanians  had 
some  singular  opinions  and  customs  in  relation  to  the  dead,  for  which 
see  Boemus,  Omnium  Gentium  Mores,  etc.;  Friburg.  1540,  p.  182. 

3  Constant,  ibid.  Meiners,  ubi  sup.,  Vol.  I.  Book  III.  See  Leroux, 
De  I'Humanite,  etc.  Vol.  II.  p.  468,  et  seq. 


RESPECTING  A  FUTURE  STATE.  121 

become  angels  to  bless,  or  demons  to  cm-se  man- 
kind.i 

To  come  to  the  civilized  states  of  antiquity,  India, 
Egypt,  Persia,  we  find  the  doctrine  prevalent  in  the 
earliest  time,  even  in  the  ages  when  Mythology  takes 
the  place  of  History.  In  India  and  Egypt  it  w^as  most 
often  connected  with  transmigration  to  other  bodies. 
Herodotus  says,  the  Egyptians  first  taught  the  doctrine.^ 
Bat  who  knows  ?  Pausanias  is  nearer  the  truth  when 
he  refers  it  to  India,^  where  it  was  taught  before  the 
birth  of  Philosophy  in  the  West.^  It  begins  with  the 
beginning  of  the  nations. 

In  Greece  we  find  it  in  a  rude  form  in  Homer ;  con- 
nected with  Metempsychosis  in  Orpheus,  Pythagoras, 
and  Pherecydes ;  assuming  a  new  form  in  Sophocles 
and  Pindar,  and  becoming  a  doctrine  fixed  and  settled 
with    Socrates,  Plato,  and   his  school   in    general.^     In 

^  Meiners,  p.  302,  et  seq.  Farmer,  On  the  Worship  of  Human 
Spirits,  passim,  I  have  mentioned  a  few  books  on  this  subject,  which 
have  furnished  the  facts  on  which  the  above  conclusions  rest  I  can 
refer  to  books  of  Travels,  Voyages  in  general,  the  Lettres  Edifiantes, 
descriptions  of  foreign  countries,  which  furnish  the  facts  in  abundance. 
The  works  of  Meiners,  Constant,  and  Lafitau  are  themselves  but  a  com- 
pilation from  these  sources. 

^  Lib.  n.  Chap.  123.    See  Creutzer's  note,  in  Bahr's  edition. 

*  The  date  of  all  things  is  uncertain  in  the  East.  I  cannot  pretend 
to  chronological  accuracy,  but  see  Asiatic  Researches,  Vol.  V.  p.  360 ; 
VII.  310  ;  Vni.  448,  et  seq.  Priestley,  ubi  sup.  §  XXIII. ;  Ritter.  Vol. 
I.  p.  132. 

*  Stanley's  History  of  Philosophy,  Part  XIH.  Sect.  II.  Chap.  X.  Hyde, 
ubi  sup. 

5  Brouwer,  Vol.  II.  Ch.  XVIII. ;  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II.  p.  440,  et  seq. 
Homer  assigns  to  the  Gods  a  beautiful  abode  not  shaken  by  the  winds, 
etc.  Od.  VI.  41,  etseq.  See  the  Imitation  of  the  passage  In  Lucretius, 
HL  18,  et  seq.  Struchtmeyer,  Theologia  Mythica,  sive  de  Origlne 
Tartar!  et  Elysyli,  LIbri  V. ;  Hag.  Com.  1 753.     1  Vol.  8vo.  Lib.  L 

11 


122  OPINION    OF   THE   HEATHEN 

Homer  the  future  state  is  a  joyless  existence.  Achilles 
would  rather  be  king  of  earthly  men  for  a  day,  than  of 
spirits  forever.  Like  the  future  state  of  the  Jews,  it 
offers  no  motive,  and  presents  no  terror.  The  shades 
of  the  weary  came  together  from  all  lands  into  their 
dim  sojourn.  Enemies  forgot  their  strife  ;  but  friends 
were  joined.^  The  present  life  is  obscurely  renewed  in 
the  next  world.  But  the  more  especial  friends  or  foes 
of  the  Gods  are  raised  to  honor,  or  condemned  to  shame. 
The  transmigration  of  souls  is  perhaps  derived  from  the 
wondrous  mutation  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  world, 
where  an  acorn  unswathed  becomes  an  oak,  and  an  egg 
dicloses  an  eagle.^ 

In  Hesiod,  the  condition  of  the  dead  is  improved  with 
the  advance  of  the  nation.  The  good  have  a  place  in 
the  Isles  of  the  Blest.^  In  the  later  poets,  the  doctrine 
rises  still  higher,  while  the  form  is  not  always  definite.* 

^  See  Iliad,  XXIII.  et  seq.  et  al.  Odyss.  XI.  and  XXIV.  passim, 
and  Heyne,  Excursus  on  Eiad,  XXIII.  71  and  104,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  368, 
et  seq.  Diod.  etc.  Vol.  I.  p.  86.  See  the  similar  views  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  in  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches.  Wachsmuth, 
Vol.  II.  Part.  II.  p.  106,  244,  290.  Potter,  Antiquities.  Gorres,  My- 
thengeschichte,  passim. 

^  See  Xenophon,  Memorab.  ed.  Schneider;  Lips.  1829,  Lib.  I.  Chap. 
III.  §  7,  and  the  Note  of  Bornemann. 

^  Opera  et  dies,  vs.  160,  et  seq.,  and  the  Scholia  in  Poet.  Min.  ed. 
Gaisford  :  Lips.  1823,  Vol.11,  p.  142,  et  seq. 

*  See  the  Gnomic  poets  in  general,  for  the  moral  views  of  life  ;  for 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  Simonides,  Frag.  XXX.  (XXXIII.)  Tyr^ 
taeus  III.  in  Gaisford,  Vol.  III.  p.  160,  242.  See  the  curious  passage 
in  Aristophanes,  Ranae,  vs.  449-460.  0pp.  ed.  Bekker ;  Lond.  1829, 
Vol.  I.  p.  535 ;  in  which  see  B's  note.  See  Orpheus,  as  cited  by  Lo- 
beck,  Aglaoph,  p.  950.  Cudworth,  Chap.  I.  §  21,  22  ;  and  Mosheim 
in  loc.  See  the  indifferent  book  of  Priestley,  Heathen  Philosophy, 
Part  L  §  III.  V. ;  Part.  II.  §  IIL  V.;  also  p.  125,  et  seq.,  197,  et  seq., 
265,  et  seq. 


RESPECTING  A  FUTURE  STATE.  123 

Pindar  celebrates  the  condition  of  the  Good  in  the  next 
life.  It  is  a  state  where  the  righteous  are  rewarded  and 
the  wicked  punished  until  sin  is  consumed  from  their 
nature,  when  they  come  to  the  divine  abode.^ 

To  pass  from  the  Poets  to  the  Philosophers ;  the  Im- 
mortality of  the  Soul  was  taught  continually,  from 
Pherecydes  to  Plotinus.  There  were  those  who  doubted, 
and  some  that  denied  ;  yet  it  was  defended  by  all  the 
greatest  philosophers,  Thales,  Pythagoras,  Socrates, 
Plato,  Aristotle,   Cicero,  Plutarch,   Epictetus,^  and  by 

^  Olymp.  11.  vs.  104,  etseq.  (57-92,  in  Dissen.)  See  Cowley's  wild 
imitation  in  his  Pindarique  Odes;  Lond.  1720,  Vol.  II.  p.  160,  et  seq. 
See  similar  thoughts  in  Propertius,  Lib.  IIL  39,  et  seq. ;  and  Tibullus, 
Eleg.  in.  58,  Virgil,  ^neid,  VI.  See  also  Pindar's  Fragment,  II. 
Vol.  III.  p.  34,  ed.  Heyne;  Lips.  1817.  Frag.  L  p.  31,  et  seq.  Frag. 
III.  p.  36  ;  and  the  notes  of  Dissen,  in  his  edition  of  Pindar,  Vol.  II.  p. 
648,  et  seq. ;  and  Lobeck,  ubi  sup.  See,  who  will,  a  treatise  in  the  Acta 
Eruditorum  for  August,  1722,  de  Statu  Animseseparatae  post  mortem,  etc. 

^  Cicero,  Tusc.  Lib.  I.  Chap.  XVI.,  says  Pherecydes  was  the  first 
who  taught  this  doctrine.  See  the  note  in  Lemaire's  edition.  See 
also  Diogenes  Laert.  Thales,  Lib.  I.  §  43,  p.  27,  et  seq.,  and  Plutarch, 
De  Placitis  Phil.  Lib.  IV.  Ch.  II.- VII.  0pp.  Vol.  II.  p.  898,  et  seq. 
It  has  been  thought  doubtful  that  Aristotle  believed  in  immortality, 
and  perhaps  it  is  not  easy  to  prove  this  point.  See  De  Anima,  III. 
5 ;  but  compare  Ethic.  Nicom.  Lib.  III.  Chap.  VI.  which  denies  it. 
See  again  De  Anima,  II.  2.  De  Gen.  Anim.  III.  4.  Plato  teaches 
immortality  with  the  greatest  clearness.  See  the  Phaedo,  passim. 
Gorgias,  p.  524,  et  seq.,  et  al.  Apolog.  Laws,  (if  they  are  genuine,) 
Lib.  X.  XII.  Epinomis,  Timaeus,  Rep.  X.  p.  612,  et  seq.  Plato 
makes  the  essence  of  man  spiritual :  Tim.  p.  69,  C.  et  seq.  72,  D.  et 
seq.  Rep.  IV.  p.  431.  A.  He  was  opposed  to  the  Materialists,  Soph. 
p.  246.  A.  However,  he  did  not  condemn  the  body.  His  argument 
in  favor  of  immortality,  like  many  later  arguments  on  the  same  theme, 
creates  more  questions  than  it  answers.  The  form  of  the  doctiine, 
its  connection  with  preexistence  and  transmigration,  like  many  doc- 
trines still  popularly  connected  with  it,  serve  only  to  disfigure  the  doc- 
trine itself,  and  bring  it  into  reproach.     The  opinion  of  Cicero  is  so 


124  OPINION   OF   THE   HEATHEN 

the  most  influential  schools.  No  doubt  it  was  often 
connected  with  absurd  notions,  in  jest  or  earnest.  But 
when  or  where  has  its  fate  been  different  ?  Bishop 
Warburton  thinks  it  no  part  of  Natural  Religion  ;  Dod- 
well  thinks  immortality  is  only  coextensive  with  Chris- 
tian baptism,  and  is  superinduced  upon  the  mortal  soul 
by  that  dispensation  of  water.i  Could  a  Heathen  be 
more  absurd  ?     If  the  popular  doctrine  of  the  Christian 

well  known,  that  it  is  almost  supei-fluous  to  cite  passages ;  but  see 
Frag,  de  Consolat.  12,  et  seq.  27,  et  al.  De  Seneetute,  Chap.  XXI., 
et  seq.  Tuso.  I.  C.  16.  De  Amicit.  Ch.  3,  4.  Somnium  Scipionis,  et 
al.  See  Seneca,  De  Ira,  I.  3.  Consolatio  ad  Helv.  Chap.  VI.  De 
Vita  beata.  Chap.  XXXII.  Ep.  50,  102,  117.  Sometimes  he  speaks 
decidedly,  at  other  times  with  doubt.  See  Lipsius  Physiol.  Stoic.  Lib. 
ni.  Diss.  VIII.-XIX.  See  Locke,  Essay,  Book  IV.  Chap.  III.  and 
Letters  to  Bishop  of  Worcester. 

See  Plutarch,  De  Sera  Numinis  Vindicta,  Morals  ;  Lond.  1691,  Vol. 
IV.  p.  197,  et.  seq.  See  too  the  Story  of  Soleus  the  Thespesian,  ibid. 
p.  206,  et  seq.  Plut.  Vit.  Quint.  Sertorius.  0pp.  I.  571-2,  F.  &  B. 
for  an  account  of  the  Fortunate  Islands,  with  which  Comp.  Diod.  Sic. 
Hist.  II.  Vol.  I.  p.  137,  et  seq.  It  seems  the  Priests  of  Serapis  distinct- 
ly taught  the  immortality  of  the  Soul.  Augustine  says,  "  Many  of  the 
Philosophers  of  the  Gentiles  have  written  much  concerning  the  im- 
mortality of  the  Soul,  and  in  numerous  books  have  they  left  it  on 
record  that  the  Soul  is  immortal.  But  when  you  come  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  Flesh,  they  do  not  hesitate  hut  openly  deny  that,  contradict- 
ing it  to  such  a  degree  that  they  declare  it  impossible  for  this  terrene 
Jiesh  to  rise  to  Heaven."  Expos.  Psalms,  LXXXVIII.  Justin  M. 
says  the  doctrine  of  immortality  was  no  new  thing  in  Christ's  time  — 
but  was  taught  by  Plato  and  Pythagoras.  The  new  element  Christ 
added  to  the  doctrine  he  thinks  was  the  restirrection  of  the  Flesh. 
0pp.  ed.  Otto.  n.  p.  540.  See  the  Literature  collected  on  this  sub- 
ject by  Kortholt  in  his  Annotations  on  Athcnagoras,  Legat.  etc.  etc. ; 
ed.  Oxon.  1704,  p.  94,  et  seq. 

^  Epistolary  Discourse,  etc.  London,  1706.  He  thinks  that  Regular 
Bishops  have  the  power  of  making  men  immortal  through  the  "  divine 
baptismal  spirit."  See  for  the  history  of  opinions  among  the  Christians, 
Fliigge,  Vol.  IIL  pt.  1  and  2. 


RESPECTING  A  FUTURE  STATE.  125 

church,  which  dooms  the  mass  of  men  to  endless  mis- 
ery,  be  true,  then  were  immortality  a  misfortune  to 
the  race.  The  wisest  of  the  Heathen  taught  such 
a  dogma  as  little  as  did  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We 
must  always  separate  the  doctrine  from  its  proof  and 
its  form  ;  the  latter  is  often  imperfect  while  the  doctrine 
is  true. 

Since  the  time  of  Bishop  Warburton,  it  has  been 
<3ommon  to  deny  that  th^  Heathen  were  acquainted 
with  this  doctrine.!  "  It  was  one  guess  among  many," 
has  often  been  said.  But  a  man  even  slightly  ac- 
quainted with  ancient  thought  and  life,  knows  it  is  not 
so.  God  has  not  made  truth  so  hard  to  come  at,  that 
the  world  of  men  continued  so  many  thousand  years  in 
ignorance  of  a  future  life.  Before  the  time  above 
named,  it  was  taught  by  scholars,  even  scholars  of  the 
clerical  order,  that  the  doctrine  was  well  known  to  the 
Heathen.  Cudworth  and  More,  Wilkins,  Taylor,  and 
Wollaston,  to  mention  only  the  most  obvious  names, 
bear  testimony  to  the  fact.^ 

^  Warburton  has  the  merit  of  framing  an  hypothesis  so  completely 
original  that  no  one,  perhaps,  (except  Bishop  Hurd,)  has  ever  shared 
it  in  full  with  him.  Part  of  his  singular  theory  is  this  :  A  beUef  in  a 
future  state  was  found  necessary  in  Heathen  countries,  to  keep  the 
subjects  in  order ;  the  philosophers  and  priests  got  up  a  doctrine  for 
that  purpose,  teaching  that  the  soul  was  immortal,  but  not  believing  a 
word  of  it.  3Ioses,  who  believed  the  doctrine,  yet  never  taught  it,  con- 
trolled the  people  by  means  of  his  inspiration,  and  the  perfect  Law. 

'  See  Cudworth  and  More,  passim.  Wilkins,  Principles  and  Du- 
ties of  Natural  Religion,  etc.  Book  I.  Ch.  XL;  see  also  Ch.  IV.  and 
Vm.  Taylor's  Sermon,  preached  at  the  Funeral  of  that  worthy 
Knight,  Sir  George  Dalston,  etc.  Wollaston,  Religion  of  Nature, 
Sect.  IX.  It  would  be  easy  to  cite  passages  from  the  early  Christians, 
testifying  to  the  truth  possessed  by  the  Heathens  B.  C.  I  will  men- 
tion but  one  from  Minucius  FeHx.    "  A  man  might  judge  either  that 

11* 


126  INFLUENCE   OF   THE   BELIEF 

To  sum  up  in  a  few  words  the  history  of  this  doc- 
trine, both  among  Jews  and  Gentiles :  it  seems  that 
rude  nations,  like  the  Celts  and  the  Sarmatians,  clung 
instinctively  to  the  sentiment  of  immortality  ;  that  the 
doctrine  was  well  known  to  the  philosophers,  and  com- 
monly accepted ;  that  some  doubted,  and  some  denied 
it  altogether.  A  few  had  reached  an  eminence  in  phi- 
losophy, and  could  in  their  way  demonstrate  the  propo- 
sition, and  satisfy  their  logical  doubt,  thus  reconciling 
the  instinctive  and  reflective  faculty.  From  the  first 
book  of  Moses  to  the  last  of  Maccabees ;  from  Homer 
to  Cicero,  there  is  a  great  change  in  the  form  of  the  doc- 
trine.    All  other  forms  also  had  changed. 

But  how  far  was  the  doctrine  diffused  among  the 
people  ?  We  can  tell  but  faintly  from  history.  But 
what  nature  demands  and  Providence  affords,  lingers 
longest  in  the  bosom  of  the  mass  of  men.  The  doc- 
trine was  not  strange  to  the  fishermen  of  Galilee. 
Was  it  more  so  to  the  peasants  of  Greece  ?  ^  The 
early  Apologists  of  Christianity  found  no  diflficulty 
from  the  unity  of  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul ;  both  are  presupposed  by  Jesus  and  Paul.  How 
far  it  moved  men  in  common  life  can  be  told  neither 
from  the  courtiers  of  Pagan  Caesar  Augustus,  nor  from 
those  of  Christian  Louis  the  Well-beloved.     A  Roman, 

the  present  Christians  are  philosophers,  or  else  that  the  old  philoso- 
phers were  Christians."  See  hkewise  Brougham's  Discourse  on  Nat- 
ural Theology.  Note  VI.-IX.  in  Appendix.  Polybius,  ubi  sup.  Lib.  VI. 
c.  53-56,  seems  to  think  the  legislators  got  up  the  docti-ine,  with  no 
faith  in  it,  except  a  general  belief  it  would  make  men  submissive.  See 
Timaeus,  De  Anima  Mundi,  in  Gale,  ubi  sup. 

^  The  resurrection  of  the  body,  seems  to  have  been  the  doctrine 
that  offended  Paul's  hearers  at  Athens ;  that  of  immortality  alone  was 
well  known  to  the  Stoics,  some  of  whom  believed  it,  and  the  Epicu- 
reans, who  rejected  it.     Acts  XVII.  16,  et  seq.     See  Wetstein  in  loc. 


IN  A  future"  state.  127 

and  a  Christian  Pontiff — how  much  are  they  moved 
by  the  tardy  terrors  of  future  judgment?^  Juvenal 
could  repeat  his  biting  sneer  in  more  ages  than  one.^ 
Was  the  argument  of  the  Pagan  philosopher  unsatis- 
factory ?  It  was  never  otherwise.  Mr.  Strauss  de- 
clares it  has  not  yet  been  demonstrated ;  Mr.  Locke 
that  it  cannot  be  proved.  The  spontaneous  sentiment 
does  its  work  with  few  w^ords.  Who  shall  demonstrate 
for  us  a  fact  of  consciousness,  or  prove  our  personal 
identity  ?  But  the  doctrine  was  connected  with  gross 
errors,  —  preexistence  and  metempsychosis.  Has  the 
doctrine  ever  been  free  of  such  connection  ?  in  even  a 
single  historical  case  ?  It  does  not  appear.  The 
doctrine  of  inherited  sin,  of  depravity  born  in  the 
bones  of  men ;  the  notion  that  the  mass  of  men  are 
doomed  by  the  God  of  Mercy  to  eternal  woe  —  immor- 
tal only  to  be  wretched  —  is  not  a  strange  thing,  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Modern  savages  have  foul  notions 
of  God ;  ancient  civilization  has  sins  enough  on  its 
head,  hideous  sins  unknown  even  in  our  day,  for  the 
world  has  been  worse,  —  but  both  are  free  from  such  a 
stain. 2 

*  See  Horace,  Epist.  Lib.  I.  Ep.  XVI.  Juvenal,  Satir.  XTTT. 
Persius,  Satir.  11.     How  far  do  these  express  the  popular  sentiment  ? 

^  Satir.  n.  149,  et  seq. 

'  Leclerc,  ubi  sup.  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  state  of  the  world 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  period,  perhaps  the  most  faith- 
ful that  has  been  given,  of  manners  and  opinions.  The  popular 
mythology  was  in  about  the  same  estimation  among  cultivated  men, 
as  the  popular  theology-  at  the  present  time  with  men  of  piety  and 
good  sense.  Leroux  de  I'Humanite,  Vol.  I.  p.  302,  et  seq.,  makes 
some  observations,  on  this  doctrine  among  the  ancients,  not  without 
interest.  See  a  Sermon  of  Immortal  Life,  by  Theo.  Parker,  Bost. 
1846. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   INFUENCE   OF  THE    EELIGIOUS    ELEMENT   ON  LIFE. 

Man  is  not  a  being  of  isolated  faculties  which  act 
independently.  The  religious,  like  each  other  element 
in  us,  acts  jointly  with  other  powers.  Its  action  there- 
fore is  helped  or  hindered  by  them.  The  Idea  of 
Religion  is  only  realized  by  an  harmonious  action  of 
all  the  faculties,  the  intellectual,  the  moral.  Yet  the 
religious  faculty  must  act,  more  or  less,  though  the 
understanding  be  not  cultivated,  and  the  moral  ele- 
ments sleep  in  Egyptian  night ;  in  connection  therefore 
with  Wisdom,  or  Folly,  with  Hope  or  Fear,  with  Love 
or  Hate.  Now  in  all  periods  of  human  history  Relig- 
ion demands  something  of  her  votaries.  The  ruder 
their  condition,  the  more  capricious  and  unreasonable 
is  the  demand.  Though  the  religious  instinct  itself  be 
ever  the  same,  the  form  of  its  expression  varies  with 
man's  intellectual  and  moral  state.  Its  influence  on 
life  may  be  considered  under  its  three  different  mani- 
festations. 

1.   Of  Superstition, 

Combining  with  Ignorance  and  Fear,  the  Religious 
Element  leads  to  Superstition.     This  is  the  vilificatiott 

(128) 


SUPERSTITION.  129 

and  debasement  of  men.     It  may  be  defined  as  Fear 
BEFORE  God.     Plutarch,  though  himself  religious,  pro- 
nounced it  worse  than  Atheism.     But  the  latter  cannot 
exist  to  the  same  extent ;  is  never  an  active  principle. 
Superstition  is  a  morbid  state  of  human  nature,  where 
the  conditions  of  religious  development  are  not  fulfilled; 
where  the  functions  of  the  religious  faculty  are  impeded 
and  counteracted.     But  it  must  act,  as  the  heart  beats 
in  the  frenzy  of  a  fever.     It  has  been  said  with  truth, 
''  Perfect  love  casts  out  fear."     The  converse  is  quite  as 
true.     Perfect  fear  casts  out  Love.     The  superstitious 
man  begins  by  fearing  God,  not  loving  him.     He  goes 
on,  like  a  timid  boy  in  the  darkness,  by  projecting  his 
own  conceptions  out  of  himself;  conjuring  up  a  phan- 
tom  he  calls  his   God;  a  Deity   capricious,  cruel,  re- 
vengeful, lying  in  wait  for  the  unwary ;  a   God   ugly, 
morose,  and  only  to  be   feared.     He  ends  by  paying  a 
service  meet  for  such  a  God,  the  service  of  Horror  and 
Fear.     Each  man's  conception  of  God  is  his  concep- 
tion of  a  man  carried  out  to  infinity ;  the  pure  idea  is 
eclipsed   by   a   human    personality.      This   conception 
therefore  varies  as  the  men  who  form  it  vary.     It  is  the 
index  of  their  Soul.      The  superstitious  man   projects 
out  of  himself  a  creation  begotten  of  his  Folly  and  his 
Fear;  calls  the  furious  phantom  God,  Moloch,  Jehovah ; 
then  attempts  to   please  the  capricious   Being  he  has 
conjured  up.     To  do  this,  the  demands  his  Superstition 
makes  are  not  to  keep  the  laws  which  the  one  God 
wrote  on  the  walls  of  Man's  being;  but  to  do  arbitrary 
acts  which  this  fancied  God  demands.     He  must  give 
up  to  the  deity  what  is  dearest  to  himself.     Hence  the 
savage  offers  a  sacrifice  of  favorite  articles  of  food ;  the 
first-fruits  of  the  chase,  or  agriculture  ;  weapons  of  war 
which   have  done  signal  service;  the  nobler  animals; 


130  THE   UNNATURAL   SACRIFICES 

the  skins  of  rare  beasts.  He  conceives  the  anger  of 
his  God  may  be  soothed  like  a  man's  excited  passion 
by  libations,  incense,  the  smoke  of  plants,  the  steam  of 
a  sacrifice. 

Again,  the  superstitious  man  would  appease  his  God, 
by  unnatural  personal  service.  He  undertakes  an  enter- 
prise, almost  impossible,  and  succeeds,  for  the  fire  of  his 
purpose  subdues  and  softens  the  rock  that  opposes  him. 
He  submits  to  painful  privation  of  food,  rest,  clothing; 
leads  a  life  of  solitude ;  wears  a  comfortless  dress,  that 
girds  and  frets  the  very  flesh  ;  stands  in  a  painful  posi- 
tion ;  shuts  himself  in  a  dungeon ;  lives  in  a  cave ', 
stands  on  a  pillar's  top ;  goes  unshorn  and  filthy.  He 
exposes  himself  to  be  scorched  by  the  sun,  and  frozen 
by  the  frost.  He  lacerates  his  flesh  ;  punctures  his  skin 
to  receive  sacred  figures  of  the  Gods.  He  mutilates 
his  body,  cutting  oft'  the  most  useful  members.  He 
sacrifices  his  cattle,  his  enemies,  his  children  ;  defiles 
the  sacred  temple  of  his  body ;  destroys  his  mortal  life 
to  serve  his  God.  In  a  state  more  refined.  Superstition 
demands  abstinence  from  all  the  sensual  goods  of  life 
Its  present  pleasures  are  a  godless  thing.  The  flesh  is 
damned.  To  serve  God  is  to  mortify  the  appetites 
God  gave.  Then  the  superstitious  man  abstains  from 
comfortable  food,  clothing,  and  shelter;  comes  neither 
eating  nor  drinking  ;  watches  all  night  absorbed  in  holy 
vigils.  The  man  of  God  must  be  thin  and  spare. 
Bernard  has  but  to  show  his  neck,  fleshless  and  scraggy, 
to  be  confessed  a  mighty  saint.  Above  all,  he  must 
abstain  from  marriage.  The  Devil  lurks  under  the 
bridal  rose.  The  vow  of  the  celibate  can  send  him 
howling  back  to  hell.  The  smothered  volcano  is  grate- 
ful to  God.  Then  comes  the  assumption  of  arbitrary 
vows  ;  the  performance  of  pilgrimages  to  distant  places, 


OF  THE   SUPERSTITIOUS   MAN.  131 

thinly  clad  and  barefoot ;  the  repetition  of  prayers,  not 
as  a  delight,  spontaneously  poured  out,  but  as  a  pen- 
ance, or  work  of  supererogation.  In  this  state.  Super- 
stition builds  convents,  monasteries,  sends  Anthony  to 
his  dwelling  in  the  desert ;  it  founds  orders  of  Mendi- 
cants, Rechabites,  Nazarites,  Encratites,  Pilgrims,  Flag- 
ellants and  similar  Moss-troopers  of  Religion  whom 
Heaven  yet  turns  to  good  account.  This  is  the  Super- 
stition of  the  Flesh.  It  promises  the  favor  of  its  God 
on  condition  of  these  most  useless  and  arbitrary  acts. 
It  dwells  on  the  absurdest  of  externals. 

However,  in  a  later  day,  it  goes  to  still  more  subtle 
refinements.  The  man  does  not  mutilate  his  body,  nor 
give  up  the  most  sacred  of  his  material  possessions. 
That  was  the  Superstition  of  savage  life.  But  he  mu- 
tilates his  soul ;  gives  up  the  most  sacred  of  his  spiritual 
treasures.  This  is  the  Superstition  of  refined  life. 
Here  the  man  is  ready  to  forego  Reason,  Conscience, 
and  Love,  God's  most  precious  gifts  ;  the  noblest  attri- 
butes of  Man ;  the  tie  that  softly  joins  him  to  the 
eternal  world.  He  will  think  against  Reason  ;  decide 
against  Conscience ;  act  against  Love,  because  he 
dreams  the  God  of  Reason,  Conscience,  and  Love  de- 
mands it.  It  is  a  slight  thing  to  hack  and  mutilate  the 
body,  though  it  be  the  fairest  temple  God  ever  made, 
and  to  mar  its  completeness  a  sin.  But  to  dismember 
the  soul,  the  very  image  of  God ;  to  lop  off  most 
sacred  affections ;  to  call  Reason  a  Liar,  Conscience  a 
devil's-oracle,  and  cast  Love  clean  out  from  the  heart, 
this  is  the  last  triumph  of  Superstition  ;  but  one  often 
witnessed,  in  all  three  forms  of  Religion  —  Fetichism, 
Polytheism,  Monotheism ;  in  all  ages  before  Christ ;  in 
all  ages  after  Christ.     This  is  the   Superstition   of  the 


132  SACRIFICES   OF   THE   SUPERSTITIOUS. 

Soul.     The  one  might  be  the  Superstition  of  the  Hero ; 
this  is  the  Superstition  of  the  Pharisee. 

A  man  rude  in  spirit  must  have  a  rude  conception  of 
God.  He  thinks  the  Deity  like  himself.  If  a  Buffalo 
had  a  religion,  his  conception  of  Deity  would  probably 
be  a  Buffalo,  fairer  limbed,  stronger,  and  swifter  than 
himself,  grazing  in  the  fairest  meadows  of  Heaven. 
If  he  were  superstitious,  his  service  would  consist  in 
offerings  of  grass,  of  water,  of  salt ;  perhaps  in  ab- 
stinence from  the  pleasures,  comforts,  necessities  of  a 
bison's  life.  His  devil  also  would  be  a  Buffalo,  but 
of  another  color,  lean,  vicious,  and  ugly.  Now  when  a 
man  has  these  rude  conceptions,  inseparable  from  a 
rude  state,  offerings  and  sacrifice  are  natural.  When 
they  come  spontaneous,  as  the  expression  of  a  grateful 
or  a  penitent  heart ;  the  seal  of  a  resolution  ;  the  sign 
of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Love,  as  an  outward  symbol 
which  strengthens  the  in-dwelling  sentiment —  the  sac- 
rifice is  pleasant  and  may  be  beautiful.  The  child  who 
saw  God  in  the  swelling  and  rounded  clouds  of  a  June 
day,  and  left  on  a  rock  the  ribbr  , -grass  and  garden 
roses  as  mute  symbols  of  gratituc'  to  the  Great  Spirit 
who  poured  out  the  voluptuous  weather ;  the  ancient 
pagan  who  bowed  prone  to  the  dust,  in  homage,  as  the 
sun  looked  out  from  the  windows  of  morning,  or 
offered  the  smoke  of  incense  at  nightfall  in  gratitude 
for  the  day,  or  kissed  his  hand  to  the  Moon,  thankful 
for  that  spectacle  of  loveliness  passing  above  him  ;  the 
man  who  with  reverent  thankfulness  or  penitence,  offers 
a  sacrifice  of  joy  or  grief,  to  express  what  words  too 
poorly  tell :  —  he  is  no  idolater,  but  Nature's  simple 
child.  We  rejoice  in  self-denial  for  a  father,  a  son,  a 
friend.     Love  and  every  strong  emotion   has  its  sacri- 


NATURAL   SACRIFICE.  133 

fice.  It  is  rooted  deep  in  the  heart  of  men.  God 
needs  nothing.  He  cannot  receive  ;  yet  Man  needs  to 
give.  But  if  these  things  are  done,  as  substitutes  for 
holiness,  as  causes  and  not  mere  signs  of  reconciliation 
with  God ;  as  means  to  coax  and  wheedle  the  Deity 
and  bribe  the  All-Powerful,  it  is  Superstition,  rank  and 
odious.  Examples  enough  of  this  are  found  in  all 
ages.  To  take  two  of  the  most  celebrated  cases,  one 
from  the  Hebrews,  the  other  from  a  Heathen  people : 
Abraham  would  sacrifice  his  son  to  Jehovah,  who  de- 
manded  that  offering,^  Agamemnon   his   daughter   to 

^  Gen.  XXn.  1-14.  The  conjectures  of  the  learned  about  this 
mythical  l£gend,  which  may  have  some  fact  at  its  foundation,  are 
numerous,  and  some  of  them  remarkable  for  their  ingenuity.  Some 
one  supposes  that  Abraham  was  tempted  by  the  Elohim,  but  Jehovah 
prevented  the  sacrifice.  It  is  easy  to  find  Heathen  parallels.  See  the 
story  of  Cronus  in  Eusebius,  P.  E.  I.  10  ;  of  Aristodemus,  of  whom 
Pausanias  tells  a  curious  story,  IV.  9.  See  the  case  of  Helena  and 
Valeria  Luperca,  who  were  both  miraculously  saved  from  sacrifice,  in 
Plutarch,  Paralel.  0pp.  Vol.  II.  p.  314.  The  Bulgarian  legend  of 
poor  Lasar  is  quite  remarkable  and  strikingly  analogous  to  that  of 
Abram  and  Isaac.  A  stranger  comes  to  Lasar's  house,  L.  has  nothing 
for  his  guest's  supper,  and,  therefore,  at  his  suggestion,  kills  Jenko, 
his  son  ;  the  guest  eats  ;  but  at  midnight  cries  aloud  that  he  is  —  the 
Lord  !  Jenko  is  restored  to  life.  See  the  story  in  a  notice  of  Paton's 
Servia,  in  For.  Quart.  Review  for  Oct.  1845,  Am.  ed.  p.  130. 

Polybius  says  we  must  allow  writers  to  enlarge  in  stories  of  miracles, 
and  in  fables  of  that  so7-t,  when  they  desire  to  promote  piety  among  the 
people.  But,  he  adds,  an  excess  in  this  Hne  is  not  to  be  toler- 
ated. 0pp.  Lib.  XVI.  ch.  11.  ed.  Schweighauser;  Oxon.  1823,  HI. 
p.  289.  Elsewhere  he  says,  this  would  not  be  necessary  in  a  state 
composed  of  wise  men,  but  the  people  require  to  be  managed  it  h  ob- 
scure fears  and  tragical  stories.  Ibid.  Lib.  VI.  ch.  bQ,  Vol.  H.  p.  389. 
Strabo  is  of  the  same  opinion,  and  thinks  that  icomen  and  the  people 
cannot  be  led  to  piety  by  philosophical  discourses^  only  by  Fables  and 
Myths.  Geog.  Lib.  I.  ch.  2,  ed.  Siebenkees,  p.  51-2.  Dionysius  Hal. 
speaks  more  wisely.      Antiq.  H.  ch.   18-20,  0pp.  ed.  Reiske;  Lips. 

12 


134  ABRAHAM  AND  AGAMEMNON. 

angry  Diana.  But  a  Deity  kindly  interferes  in  both 
cases.  The  Angel  of  Jehovah  rescues  Isaac  from  the 
remorseless  knife ;  a  ram  is  found  for  a  sacrifice. 
Diana  delivers  the  daughter  of  Agamemnon  and  leaves 
a  hind  in  her  place.  No  one  doubts  the  latter  is  a  case 
of  superstition  most  ghastly  and  terrible.  A  father 
murder  his  own  child  —  a  human  sacrifice  to  the  Lord 
of  Life  !  It  is  rebellion  against  Conscience,  Reason, 
Affection  ;  treason  against  God.  Though  Calchas,  the 
anointed  minister,  declared  it  the  will  of  Heaven  — 
there  is  an  older  than  Calchas  who  says,  It  is  a  Lie. 
He  that  defends  the  former  patriarch,  counting  it  a 
blameless  and  beautiful  act  of  piety  and  faith  performed 
at  the  command  of  God  —  what  shall  be  said  of  him  ? 
He  proves  the  worm  of  Superstition  is  not  yet  dead, 
nor  its  fire  quenched,  and  leads  weak  men  to  ask. 
Which  then  has  most  of  Religion,  the  Christian,  who 
justifies  Abraham,  or  the  Pagan  Greeks,  who  condemned 
Agamemnon  ?  He  leads  weak  men  to  ask ;  the  strong 
make  no  question  of  so  plain  a  matter. 

But  why  go  back  to  Patriarchs  at  Aulis  or  Moriah  ; 
do  we  not  live  in  New  England  and  the  nineteenth 
century  ?  Have  the  footsteps  of  Superstition  been 
effaced  from  our  land  ?  Our  books  of  theology  are  full 
thereof;  our  churches  and  homes  not  empty  of  it. 
When  a  man  fears  God  more  than  he  loves  him;  when 
he  will  forsake  Reason,  Conscience,  Love — the  still 
small  voice  of  God  in  the  heart  —  for  any  of  the  legion 
voices  of  Authority,  Tradition,  Expediency  which 
come  of  Ignorance,  Selfishness,  and  Sin  ;  whenever  he 
hopes  by  a  poor  prayer,  or  a  listless  attendance  at 
church,  or  an  austere  observance  of  Sabbaths  and  Fast- 

1774,  I.  p.  271,  et  seq.,  and  properly  commends  Romulus  for  rejecting 
immoral  Stories  from  the  public  and  official  theology. 


FANATICISM.  135 

days,  a  compliance  with  forms ;  when  he  hopes  by 
professing  with  his  tongue  the  doctrine  he  cannot  be- 
lieve in  his  heart,  to  atone  for  wicked  actions,  wrong 
thoughts,  unholy  feelings,  a  six-days'  life  of  meanness, 
deception,  rottenness,  and  sin,  —  then  is  he  supersti- 
tious. Are  there  no  fires  but  those  of  Moloch  ;  no  idols 
of  printed  paper,  and  spoken  wind  ?  No  false  worship 
but  bowing  the  knee  to  Baal,  Adonis,  Priapus,  Cybele  ? 
Superstition  changes  its  forms,  not  its  substance.  If 
he  were  superstitious  who  in  days  of  ignorance  but 
made  his  son's  body  pass  through  the  fire  to  his  God, 
what  shall  be  said  of  them  in  an  age  of  light,  who  sys- 
tematically degrade  the  fairest  gifts  of  men,  God's 
dearest  benefaction ;  who  make  life  darkness,  death 
despair,  the  world  a  desert,  Man  a  worm,  nothing  but  a 
worm,  and  God  an  ugly  fiend,  that  made  the  most  of 
men  for  utter  wretchedness,  death,  and  eternal  hell?  Alas 
for  them.  They  are  blind  and  see  not.  They  lie  down 
in  their  folly.     Let  Charity  cover  them  up. 

II.   Of  Fanaticism. 

There  is  another  morbid  state  of  the  religious  Ele- 
ment. It  consists  in  its  union  with  Hatred  and  other 
malignant  passions  in  men.  Here  it  leads  to  Fanati- 
cism. As  the  essence  of  Superstition  is  Fear  coupled 
with  religious  feling;  so  the  essence  of  Fanaticism  is 
Malice  mingling  with  that  sentiment.  It  may  be  called 
Hatred  before  God.  The  Superstitious  man  fears 
lest  God  hate  him ;  the  Fanatic  thinks  he  hates  not 
him  but  his  enemies.  Is  the  Fanatic  a  Jew?  —  the 
Gentiles  are  hateful  to  Jehovah  ;  a  Mahometan  ?  —  all 
are  infidel  dogs  who  do  not  bow  to  the  prophet,  their 
end  is  destruction.     Is  he  a  Christian  ?  —  he  counts  all 


136  POWER   OF  FANATICISM. 

others  as  Heathens  whom  God  will  damn ;  of  this  or 
that  sect  ?  —  he  condemns  all  the  rest  for  their  belief, 
let  their  life  be  divine  as  the  prayer  of  a  saint.  Out  of 
his  selfish  passion  he  creates  him  a  God ;  breathes  into 
it  the  breath  of  his  Hatred ;  he  worships  and  prays  to 
it,  and  says  "  Deliver  me,  for  thou  art  my  God."  Then 
he  feels  —  so  he  fancies  —  inspiration  to  visit  his  foes 
with  divine  vengeance.  He  can  curse  and  smite  them 
in  the  name  of  his  God.  It  is  the  sword  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  fire  of  the  Most  High  that  drinks  up  the  blood 
and  stifles  the  groan  of  the  wretched. 

Like  Superstition,  it  is  found  in  all  ages  of  the  world. 
It  is  the  insanity  of  mankind.  As  the  richest  soils 
grow  weightiest  harvests,  or  most  noxious  weeds  and 
poisons  the  most  baneful ;  as  the  strongest  bodies  take 
disease  the  most  sorely,  so  the  deepest  natures,  the 
highest  forms  of  worship,  when  once  infected  with  this 
leprosy,  go  to  the  wildest  excess  of  desperation.  Thus 
the  fanaticism  of  worshippers  of  one  God  has  no  par- 
allel, among  idolaters  and  polytheists.  There  is  a  point 
in  human  nature  where  moral  distinctions  do  not  ap- 
pear, as  on  the  earth  there  are  spots  where  the  compass 
will  not  traverse,  and  dens  where  the  sun  never  shines 
This  fact  is  little  dwelt  on  by  philosophers ;  still  it  is  a 
fact.  Seen  from  this  point.  Right  and  Wrong  lose 
their  distinctive  character  and  run  into  each  other.  Good 
seems  Evil  and  Evil  Good,  or  both  appear  the  same. 
The  sophistry  of  the  understanding  sometimes  leagues 
with  appetite  and  gradually  entices  the  thoughtless 
into  this  pit.  The  Antinomian  of  all  times,  turns  in 
thither,  to  increase  his  Faith  and  diminish  his  Works. 
It  is  the  very  cave  of  Trophonius  ;  he  that  enters  loses 
his  manhood  and  walks  backward  as  he  returns  ;  his 
soul,  so  filled  with   God,  whatever  the  flesh  does,  he 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  FANATICS.  137 

thinks  cannot  be  wrong,  though  it  break  all  laws,  hu- 
man and  divine.  The  fanatic  dwells  continually  in  this 
state ;  God  demands  of  him  to  persecute  his  foes. 
The  thought  troubles  him  by  day,  and  stares  on  him  as 
a  spectre  at  night.  God  or  his  angel,  appear  to  his 
crazed  fancy  and  bid  him  to  the  work  with  promise  of 
reward,  or  spurs  him  with  a  curse.  Then  there  is  no 
lie  too  malignant  for  him  to  invent  and  utter ;  no  curse 
too  awful  for  him  to  imprecate  ;  no  refinement  of  tor- 
ture too  cruel  or  exquisitely  rending  for  his  fancy  to 
devise,  his  malice  to  inflict ;  Nature  is  teased  for  new 
tortures  ;  Art  is  racked  to  extort  fresh  engines  of  cruelty. 
As  the  jaded  Roman  offered  a  reward  for  the  invention 
of  a  new  pleasure,  so  the  fanatic  would  renounce  Heaven 
could  he  give  an  added  pang  to  hell. 

Men  of  this  character  have  played  so  great  a  part  in 
the  world's  history,  they  must  not  be  passed  over  in 
silence.  The  ashes  of  the  innocents  they  have  burned, 
are  sown  broadcast  and  abundant  in  all  lands.  The 
earth  is  quick  with  this  living  dust.  The  blood  of 
prophets,  and  saviors  they  have  shed  still  cries  for 
justice.  The  Canaanites,  the  Jews,  the  Saracen,  the 
Christian,  Polytheist  and  Idolater,  New  Zealand  and 
New  England  are  guilty  of  this.  Let  the  early  Chris- 
tian and  the  delaying  Heathen  tell  their  tale.  Let  the 
voice  of  the  Heretic  speak  from  the  dungeon-racks  of 
the  Inquisition  ;  that  of  the  "  true  believer  "  from  the 
scaffolds  of  Elizabeth  —  most  Christian  Queen ;  let 
the  voices  of  the  murdered  come  up  from  the  squares 
of  Paris,  the  plains  of  the  Low  Countries,  from  the 
streets  of  Antioch,  Byzantium,  Jerusalem,  Alexandria, 
Damascus,  Rome,  Mexico ;  from  the  wheels,  racks,  and 
gibbets  of  the  world ;  let  the  men  who  died  in  religious 
wars,  always  the  bloodiest  and  most  remorseless ;  the 

12* 


138  THE   FANATICISM   OF   OUR  TIME. 

women,  whom  nothing  could  save  from  a  fate  yet  more 
awful ;  the  babes,  newly  born,  who  perished  in  the  sack 
and  conflagration  of  idolatrous  and  heretical  cities, 
when  for  the  sake  of  Religion  men  violated  its  every 
precept,  and  in  the  name  of  God  broke  down  his  Law, 
and  trampled  his  image  into  bloody  dust;  —  let  all  these 
speak,  to  admonish,  and  to  blame. 

But  it  is  not  well  to  rest  on  general  terms  alone. 
Paul  had  no  little  fanaticism,  when  he  persecuted  the 
Christians ;  kept  the  garments  of  men  who  stoned 
Stephen.  Moses  had  much  of  it,  if  as  the  story  goes, 
he  commanded  the  extirpation  of  nations  of  idolaters, 
millions  of  men,  virtuous  as  the  Jews  ;  Joshua,  Samuel, 
David,  had  much  of  it,  and  executed  schemes  bloody 
as  a  murderer's  most  sanguine  dream.  It  has  been 
both  the  foe  and  the  auxiliary  of  the  Christian  Church. 
There  is  a  long  line  of  Fanatics,  extending  from  the 
time  of  Jesus,  reaching  from  century  to  century,  march- 
ing on  from  age  to  age,  with  the  banner  of  the  Cross 
over  their  heads,  and  the  Gospel  on  their  tongues,  and 
fire  and  sword  in  their  hands.^  The  last  of  that  Apoc- 
alyptic rabble  has  not  as  yet  passed  by.  Let  the  clouds 
of  darkness  hide  them.  What  need  to  tell  of  our  own 
fathers ;  what  they  suffered,  what  they  inflicted ;  their 
crime  is  fresh  and  unatoned.  Rather  let  us  take  the 
wings  of  an  angel,  and  fly  away  from  scenes  so  awful, 
the  slaughter-house  of  souls. 

But  the  milder  forms  of  Fanaticism  we  cannot  es- 
cape. They  meet  us  in  the  theological  war  of  extermi- 
nation, which  sect  now  wars  with  sect,  pulpit  with  pul- 
pit, man  with  man.  If  one  would  seek  specimens  of 
Superstition  in  its  milder  form,  let  him  open  a  popular 

*  See  the  Book  of  Revelation,  passim. 


THE   FANATICISM    OF   OUR   TIME.  139 

commentary  on  the  Bible,  or  read  much  of  that  weak- 
ish  matter  which  circulates  in  what  men  call,  as  if  in 
mockery,  "  good,  pious  books."  If  he  would  find  Fanat- 
icism in  its  modern  and  more  Pharisaic  shape,  let  him 
open  the  sectarian  newspapers,  or  read  theological  po- 
lemics. To  what  mean  uses  may  we  not  descend  ? 
The  spirit  of  a  Caligula  and  a  Dominic,  of  Alva  and 
Ignatius  stares  at  men  in  the  street.  It  can  only  bay 
in  the  distance  ;  it  dares  not  bite.  Poor,  craven  Fanat- 
icism !  fallen  like  Lucifer,  never  to  hope  again.  Like 
Pope  and  Pagan  in  the  story,  he  sits  chained  by  the  way- 
side, to  grin  and  gibber,  and  howl  and  snarl,  as  the  Pil- 
grim goes  by,  singing  the  song  of  the  fearless  and  free, 
on  the  highway  to  Heaven,  with  his  girdle  about  him 
and  white  robe  on.  Poor  Fanaticism,  who  was  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  in  his  debauch,  lifted 
his  horn  and  pushed  at  the  Almighty,  and  slew  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  —  he  shall  revel  but  in  the  dreamy  re- 
membrance of  his  ancient  crime ;  his  teeth  shall  be 
fleshed  no  more  in  the  limbs  of  the  living. 

These  two  morbid  states  just  past  over,  represent  the 
most  hideous  forms  of  human  degradation ;  where  the 
foulest  passions  are  at  their  foulest  work  ;  where  Malice, 
which  a  Devil  might  envy,  and  which  might  make  Hell 
darker  with  its  frown  ;  where  Hate  and  Rancor  build  up 
their  organizations  and  ply  their  arts.  In  man  there  is 
a  mixture  of  good  and  evil.  "  A  being  darkly  wise  and 
poorly  great,"  he  has  in  him  somewhat  of  the  Angel  and 
something  of  the  Devil.  In  Fanaticism,  the  Angel  sleeps 
and  the  Devil  drives.    But  let  us  leave  the  hateful  theme.^ 

^  A  powerful  priesthood  has  usually  had  great  influence  in  promot- 
ing fanaticism  of  the  most  desperate  character.  One  need  only  look 
over  the  history  of  persecutions  in  all  ages  to  see  this.     We  see  it 


140  SOLID   PIETY. 


III.     Of  Solid  Fiety. 

The  legitimate  and  perfect  action  of  the  religious 
Element  takes  place  when  it  exists  in  harmonious  com- 
bination with  Reason,  Conscience,  and  Affection.  Then 
it  is  not  Hatred,  and  not  Fear,  but  Love  before  God. 
It  produces  the  most  beautiful  development  of  human 
nature  ;  the  golden  age,  the  fairest  Eden  of  life,  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven.  Its  Deity  is  the  God  of  Infinite 
Power,  Wisdom,  Justice,  Love,  and  Holiness  —  Fideli- 
ty to  Himself,  —  within  whose  encircling  arms  it  is 
beautiful  to  be.  The  demands  it  makes  are  to  keep  the 
Law  He  has  written  in  the  heart,  to  be  good,  to  do 
good  ;  to  love  men,  to  love  God.  It  may  use  forms, 
prayers,  dogmas,  ceremonies,  priests,  temples,  sabbaths, 
festivals,  and  fasts ;  yes,  sacrifices  if  it  will,  as  means, 
not  ends  ;  symbols  of  a  sentiment,  not  substitutes  for  it. 
Its  substance  is  Love  of  God ;  its  Piety  the  form, 
Morality  the  Love  of  men  ;  its  temple  a  pure  heart ;  its 
sacrifice  a  divine  life.  The  end  it  proposes  is,  to  re- 
unite the  man  with  God,  till  he  thinks  God's  thought, 
which  is  Truth ;  feels  God's  feeling,  which  is  Love, 
wills  God's  will,  which  is  the  eternal  Right ;  thus  find- 
ing God  in  the  sense  wherein  he  is  not  far  from  any 
one  of  us  ;  becoming  one  with  Him,  and  so  partaking 
the  divine  nature.  The  means  to  this  high  end  are  an 
extinction  of  all  in  man  that  opposes  God's  law;  a  per- 
fect obedience  to  Him  as  he  speaks   in  Reason,  Con- 


among  the  Hebrews,  the  Germans,  the  Druids  ;  the  nations  that  op- 
posed the  spread  of  Christianity.  The  Christian  church  itself  has 
erected  monuments  enough  to  perpetuate  the  fact.  The  story  of 
Haman  and  INIordecai  is  no  bad  allegory  of  the  conflict  between  the 
orthodox  priesthood  and  the  unorganized  heretics. 


HAPPY   CONDITION    OF   THE    RELIGIOUS   MAN.        141 

science,  Affection.  It  leads  through  active  obedience  to 
an  absolute  trust,  a  perfect  love ;  to  the  complete  har- 
mony of  the  finite  man  with  the  infinite  God,  and  man's 
will  coalesces  in  that  of  Him  who  is  All  in  All.  Then 
Faith  and  Knowledge  are  the  same  thing,  Reason  and 
Revelation  do  not  conflict.  Desire  and  Duty  go  hand  in 
hand,  and  strew  man's  path  with  flowers.  Desire  has 
become  dutiful,  and  Duty  desirable.  The  divine  spirit 
incarnates  itself  in  the  man.  The  riddle  of  the  world 
is  solved.  Perfect  love  casts  out  fear.  Then  Religion 
demands  no  particular  actions,  forms,  or  modes  of 
thought.  The  man's  ploughing  is  holy  as  his  prayer; 
his  daily  bread  as  the  smoke  of  his  sacrifice  ;  his  home 
sacred  as  his  temple  ;  his  work-day  and  his  sabbath  are 
alike  God's  day.  His  priest  is  the  holy  spirit  within 
him;  Faith  and  Works  his  communion  of  both  kinds. 
He  does  not  sacrifice  Reason  to  Religion,  nor  Religion 
to  Reason.  Brother  and  Sister,  they  dwell  together  in 
love.  A  life  harmonious  and  beautiful,  conducted  by 
Righteousness,  filled  full  with  Truth  and  enchanted  by 
Love  to  men  and  God,  —  this  is  the  service  he  pays  to 
the  Father  of  All.  Belief  does  not  take  the  place  of 
Life.  Capricious  austerity  atones  for  no  duty  left  un- 
done. He  loves  Religion  as  a  bride,  for  her  own  sake, 
not  for  what  she  brings.  He  lies  low  in  the  hand  of 
God.     The  breath  of  the  Father  is  on  him. 

If  Joy  comes  to  this  man,  he  rejoices  in  its  rosy  light. 
His  Wealth,  his  Wisdom,  his  Power,  is  not  for  himself 
alone,  but  for  all  God's  children.  Nothing  is  his  which 
a  brother  needs  more  than  he.  Like  God  himself,  he  is 
kind  to  the  thankless  and  unmerciful.  Purity  without 
and  Piety  within  ;  these  are  his  Heaven,  both  present 
and  to  come.  Is  not  his  flesh  as  holy  as  his  soul  —  his 
body  a  temple  of  God  ? 


142         HAPPY   CONDITION   OF   THE  RELIGIOUS  MAN. 

If  trouble  comes  on  him,  which  Prudence  could  not 
foresee,  nor  Strength  overcome,  nor  Wisdom  escape 
from,  he  bears  it  with  a  heart  serene  and  full  of  peace. 
Over  every  gloomy  cavern,  and  den  of  despair,  Hope 
arches  her  rainbow  ;  the  ambrosial  light  descends.  Re- 
ligion shows  him,  that,  out  of  desert  rocks,  black  and 
savage,  where  the  Vulture  has  her  home,  where  the 
Storm  and  the  Avalanche  are  born,  and  whence  they 
descend,  to  crush  and  to  kill ;  out  of  these  hopeless 
cliffs,  falls  the  river  of  Life,  which  flows  for  all,  and 
makes  glad  the  people  of  God.  When  the  Storm  and 
the  Avalanche  sweep  from  him  all  that  is  dearest  to 
mortal  hope,  is  he  comfortless  ?  Out  of  the  hard  mar- 
ble of  Life,  the  deposition  of  a  few  joys  and  many  sor- 
rows, of  birth  and  death,  and  smiles  and  grief,  he  hews 
him  the  beautiful  statue  of  religious  Tranquillity.  It 
stands  ever  beside  him,  with  the  smile  of  heavenly 
satisfaction  on  its  lip,  and  its  trusting  finger  pointing 
to  the  sky. 

The  true  religious  man,  amid  all  the  ills  of  time,  keeps 
a  serene  forehead,  and  entertains  a  peaceful  heart.  Thus 
going  out  and  coming  in  amid  all  the  trials  of  the  city, 
the  agony  of  the  plague,  the  horrors  of  the  thirty  tyrants, 
the  fierce  democracy  abroad,  the  fiercer  ill  at  home,  the 
Saint,  the  Sage  of  Athens,  was  still  the  same.  Such 
an  one  can  endure  hardness  ;  can  stand  alone  and  be 
content ;  a  rock  amid  the  waves,  lonely,  but  not  moved. 
Around  him  the  few  or  many  may  scream  their 
screams,  or  cry  their  clamors ;  calumniate  "  or  blas- 
pheme. What  is  it  all  to  him,  but  the  cawing  of  the 
sea-bird  about  that  solitary  and  deep-rooted  stone  ?  So 
swarms  of  summer  flies,  and  spiteful  wasps,  may  assail 
the  branches  of  an  oak,  which  lifts  its  head,  storm-tried 


ON   THE  KELIGIOUS   MAN.  143 

and  old,  above  the  hills.  They  move  a  leaf,  or  bend  a 
twig  by  their  united  weight.  Their  noise,  fitful  and 
malicious,  elsewhere  might  frighten  the  sheep  in  the 
meadows.  Here  it  becomes  a  placid  hum.  It  joins 
the  wild  whisper  of  the  leaves.  It  swells  the  breezy 
music  of  the  tree,  but  makes  it  bear  no  acorn  less. 

He  fears  no  evil,  God  is  his  armor  against  fate.  He 
rejoices  in  his  trials,  and  Jeremiah  sings  psalms  in  his 
dungeon,  and  Daniel  prays  three  times  a  day  with  his 
window  up,  that  all  may  hear,  and  Nebuchadnezzar 
cast  him  to  the  lions  if  he  will ;  Luther  will  go  to  the 
Diet  at  Worms,  if  it  rain  enemies  for  nine  days  run- 
ning ;  "  though  the  Devils  be  thick  as  the  tiles  on  the 
roof."  Martyred  Stephen  sees  God  in  the  cloudy.  The 
victim  at  the  stake  glories  in  the  fire  he  lights,  which 
shall  shine  all  England  through.  Yes,  Paul,  an  old 
man,  forsaken  of  his  friends,  tried  by  many  perils,  daily 
expecting  an  awful  death,  sits  comforted  in  his  dungeon. 
The  Lord  stands  by  and  says.  Fear  not,  Paul,  Lo,  I  am 
with  thee  to  the  world's  end.  The  tranquil  saint  can 
say,  I  know  whom  I  have  served.  I  have  not  the  spirit 
of  fear,  but  joy.  I  am  ready  to  be  sacrificed.  Such 
trials  prove  the  Soul  as  Gold  is  proved.  The  dross 
perishes  in  the  fire;  but  the  virgin  metal — it  comes 
brighter  from  the  flame.  What  is  it  for  such  a  man  to 
be  scourged,  forsaken,  his  name  a  proverb,  counted  as 
the  offscouring  of  the  world?  There  is  that  in  him 
which  looks  down  millions.  Cast  out,  he  is  not  in  dis- 
may ;  forsaken  —  never  less  alone.  Slowly  and  soft 
the  Soul  of  Faith  comes  into  the  man.  He  knows 
that  he  is  seen  by  the  pure  and  terrible  eyes  of  Infinity. 
He  feels  the  sympathy  of  the  Soul  of  All,  and  says, 
with  modest  triumph,  I  am  not  alone,  for  Thou  art  with 
me.     Mortal   affections    may  cease  their  melody;    but 


144  POWER   OF   RELIGION. 

the  Infinite  speaks  to  his  soul  comfort  too  deep  for 
words,  and  too  divine.  What  if  he  have  not  the  Sun 
of  human  affection  to  cheer  him  ?  The  awful  faces  of 
the  Stars  look  from  the  serene  depths  of  divine  Love, 
and  seem  to  say,  "  Well  done."  What  if  the  sweet 
music  of  human  sympathy  vanish  before  the  discordant 
curse  of  his  brother  man  ?  The  melody  of  the  spheres  — 
so  sweet  we  heed  it  not  when  tried  less  sorely  —  rolls  in 
upon  the  soul  its  tranquil  tide,  and  that  same  Word, 
which  was  in  the  beginning,  says,  "  Thou  art  my 
beloved  Son  and  in  thee  am  1  well  pleased."  Earth 
is  overcome,  and  Heaven  won. 

It  is  well  for  mankind  that  God  now  and  then  raises 
up  a  hero  of  the  soul ;  exposes  him  to  grim  trials  in  the 
fore-front  of  the  battle  ;  sustains  him  there,  that  we 
may  know  what  nobility  is  in  Man,  and  how  near  him 
God ;  to  show  that  greatness  in  the  religious  man  is 
only  needed  to  be  found ;  that  his  Charity  does  not 
expire  with  the  quiverings  of  his  flesh ;  that  this  hero 
can  end  his  breath  with  a  "  Father,  forgive  them." 

Man  everywhere  is  the  measure  of  man.  There  is 
nothing  which  the  Flesh  and  the  Devil  can  inflict  in 
their  rage,  but  the  Holy  Spirit  can  bear  in  its  exceeding 
peace.  The  Art  of  the  tormentor  is  less  than  the 
Nature  of  the  suffering  soul.  All  the  denunciations 
of  all  that  sat  on  Moses's  seat,  or  have  since  climbed 
to  that  of  the  Messiah  ;  the  scorn  of  the  contemptuous  ; 
the  fury  of  the  passionate  ;  the  wrath  of  a  monarch, 
and  the  roar  of  his  armies  ;  all  these  are  to  a  religious 
soul  but  the  buzzing  of  the  flies  about  that  mountain 
oak.     There  is  nothing  that  prevails  against  Truth. 

Now  in  some  men  Religion  is  a  continual  growth. 
They  are  always  in  harmony  with  God.  Silently  and 
unconscious,  erect  as  a  palm  tree,  they  grow  up  to  the 


THE    STRUGGLE    WITH   SIN.  145 

measure  of  a  man.  To  them  Reason  and  Religion  are 
of  the  same  birth.  They  are  born  saints ;  Aborigines 
of  Heaven.  Betwixt  their  Idea  of  Life  and  their  Fact 
of  Life  there  has  at  no  time  been  a  gulf.  But  others 
join  themselves  to  the  Ai'mada  of  Sin  and  get  scarred 
all  over  with  wounds  as  they  do  thankless  battle  in  that 
leprous  host.  Before  these  men  become  religious,  there 
must  be  a  change,  —  well-defined,  deeply  marked,  — 
a  change  that  will  be  remembered.  The  Saints  who 
have  been  sinners  —  tell  us  of  the  struggle  and  desperate 
battle  that  goes  on  between  the  Flesh  and  the  Spirit. 
It  is  as  if  the  Devil  and  the  Archangel  contended. 
Well  says  John  Bunyan,  The  Devil  fought  with  me 
weeks  long,  and  I  with  the  Devil.  To  take  the  leap 
of  Niagara,  and  stop  when  half-way  down,  and  by  their 
proper  motion  reascend — is  no  slight  thing,  nor  the 
remembrance  thereof  like  to  pass  away. 

This  passage  from  sin  to  salvation  ;  this  second  birth 
of  the  Soul,  as  both  Christians  and  Heathens  call  it,  is 
one  of  the  many  mysteries  of  Man,  Two  elements 
meet  in  the  consciousness.  There  is  a  negation  of  the 
past;  an  affirmation  of  the  future.  Terror  and  Hope, 
Penitence  and  Faith  rush  together  in  that  moment  and 
a  new  life  begins.  The  character  gradually  grows  over 
the  wounds  of  sin.  With  bleeding  feet  the  man  retreads 
his  way,  but  gains  at  last  the  mountain  top  of  Life  and 
wonders  at  the  tortuous  track  he  left  behind. 

Shall  it  be  said  that  Religion  is  the  great  refinement 
of  the  world  ;  its  tranquil  star  that  never  sets  ?  Need 
it  be  told  that  all  Nature  works  in  its  behalf;  that  every 
mute  and  every  living*  thing  seems  to  repeat  God's 
voice.  Be  perfect ;  that  Nature,  which  is  the  out-ness  of 
God,  favors  Religion,  which  is  the  in-ness  of  Man,  and 
so  God  works  with  us  ?    Heathens  knew  it  many  cen- 

13 


146  THE   JOYS    OF    LIFE. 

turies  ago.  It  has  long  been  known  that  Religion  — 
in  its  true  estate  —  created  the  deepest  welfare  of  Man. 
Socrates,  Seneca,  Plutarch,  Antoninus,  Fenelon  can  tell 
us  this.  It  might  well  be  so.  Religion  comes  from 
what  is  strongest,  deepest,  most  beautiful  and  divine  ; 
lays  no  rude  hand  on  soul  or  sense ;  condemns  no 
faculty  as  base.  It  sets  no  bounds  to  Reason  but 
Truth  ;  none  to  Affection  but  Love ;  none  to  Desire 
but  Duty ;  none  to  the  Soul  but  Perfection  ;  and  these 
are  not  limits  but  the  charter  of  infinite  freedom. 

No  doubt  there  is  joy  in  the  success  of  earthly 
schemes.  There  is  joy  to  the  miser  as  he  satiates  his 
prurient  palm  with  gold :  there  is  joy  for  the  fool  of 
fortune  when  his  gaming  brings  a  prize.  But  what  is 
it  ?  His  request  is  granted  ;  but  leanness  enters  his 
soul.  There  is  delight  in  feasting  on  the  bounties  of 
Earth,  the  garment  in  which  God  veils  the  brightne^?^ 
of  his  face ;  in  being  filled  with  the  fragrant  loveliness 
of  flowers ;  the  song  of  birds  ;  the  hum  of  bees ;  the 
sounds  of  ocean  ;  the  rustle  of  the  summer  wind,  heard 
at  evening  in  the  pine  tops  ;  in  the  cool  running  brooks; 
in  the  majestic  sweep  of  undulating  hills ;  the  grandeur 
of  untamed  forests ;  the  majesty  of  the  mountain  ;  in 
the  morning's  virgin  beauty  ;  in  the  maternal  grace  of 
evening,  and  the  sublime  and  mystic  pomp  of  night. 
Nature's  silent  sympathy  —  how  beautiful  it  is. 

There  is  joy,  no  doubt  there  is  joy,  to  the  mind  of 
Genius,  when  thought  bursts  on  him  as  the  tropic  sun 
rending  a  cloud ;  when  long  trains  of  ideas  sweep 
through  his  soul,  like  constellated  orbs  before  an  angel's 
eye  ;  when  sublime  thoughts  and  burning  words  rush 
to  the  heart ;  when  Nature  unveils  her  secret  truth,  and 
some  great  Law  breaks,  all  at  once,  upon  a  Newton's 
mind,  and  chaos  ends  in  light ;  when  the  hour  of  his 


THE  JOYS   OF   LIFE.  147 

inspiration  and  the  joy  of  his  genius  is  on  him,  't  is 
then  that  this  child  of  Heaven  feels  a  godlike  delight. 
'T  is  sympathy  with  Truth. 

There  is  a  higher  and  more  tranquil  bliss,  when 
heart  communes  with  heart ;  when  two  souls  unite  in 
one,  like  mingling  dew-drops  on  a  rose,  that  scarcely 
touch  the  flower,  but  mirror  the  heavens  in  their  little 
orbs  ;  when  perfect  love  transforms  two  souls,  either 
man's  or  woman's,  each  to  the  other's  image ;  when 
one  heart  beats  in  two  bosoms ;  one  spirit  speaks  with 
a  divided  tongue  ;  when  the  same  soul  is  eloquent  in 
mutual  eyes  —  there  is  a  rapture  deep,  serene,  heart-felt, 
and  abiding  in  this  mysterious  fellow-feeling  with  a. 
congenial  soul,  which  puts  to  shame  the  cold  sympathy  of 
Nature,  and  the  ecstatic  but  short-lived  bliss  of  Genius 
in  his  high  and  burning  hour. 

But  the  welfare  of  Religion  is  more  than  each  or  all 
of  these.  The  glad  reliance  that  comes  upon  the  man; 
the  sense  of  trust ;  a  rest  with  God  ;  the  soul's  exceed- 
ing peace  ;  the  universal  harmony  ;  the  infinite  within  ; 
sympathy  with  the  Soul  of  All  —  is  bliss  that  words 
cannot  portray.  He  only  knows,  who  feels.  The  speech 
of  a  prophet  cannot  tell  the  tale.  No  :  not  if  a  seraph 
touched  his  lips  with  fire.  In  the  high  hour  of  religious 
visitation  from  the  living  God,  there  seems  to  be  no 
separate  thought ;  the  tide  of  universal  life  sets  through 
the  soul.  The  thought  of  self  is  gone.  It  is  a  little 
accident  to  be  a  king  or  a  clown,  a  parent  or  a  child. 
Man  is  at  one  with  God,  and  He  is  All  in  All.  Neither 
the  loveliness  of  Nature ;  neither  the  joy  of  Genius, 
nor  the  sweet  breathing  of  congenial  hearts,  that  make 
delicious  music  as  they  beat,  —  neither  one  nor  all  of 
these  can  equal  the  joy  of  the  religious  soul  that  is  at 
one  with  God,  so  full  of  peace  that  prayer  is  needless. 


148  THE   WELFARE   OF   RELIGION. 

This  deeper  joy  gives  an  added  charm  to  the  former 
blessings.  Nature  undergoes  a  new  transformation. 
A  story  tells  that  when  the  rising  sun  fell  on  Memnon's 
statue  it  wakened  music  in  that  breast  of  stone.  Re- 
ligion does  the  same  with  Nature.  From  the  shining 
snake  to  the  waterfall,  it  is  all  eloquent  of  God.  As 
to  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  there  stands  an  angel  in  the 
sun  ;  the  seraphim  hang  over  every  flower  ;  God  speaks 
in  each  little  grass  that  fringes  a  mountain  rock.  Then 
even  Genius  is  wedded  to  a  greater  bliss.  His  thoughts 
shine  more  brilliant,  when  set  in  the  light  of  Religion 
Friendship  and  Love  it  renders  infinite.  The  man 
loves  God  when  he  but  loves  his  friend.  This  is  the 
joy  Religion  gives ;  its  perennial  rest ;  its  everlasting 
life.  It  comes  not  by  chance.  It  is  the  possession  of 
such  as  ask  and  toil  and  toil  and  ask.  It  is  withheld 
from  none,  as  other  gifts.  Nature  tells  little  to  the  deaf 
the  blind,  the  rude.  Every  man  is  not  a  genius,  and 
has  not  his  joy.  Few  men  can  find  a  friend  that  is  the 
world  to  them.  That  triune  sympathy,  is  not  for  every 
one.  But  this  welfare  of  Religion,  the  deepest,  truest 
the  everlasting,  the  sympathy  with  God,  lies  within  the 
reach  of  all  his  Sons. 


BOOK  II. 


13 


(149) 


"  Reason  is  natural  Revelation,  whereby  the  eternal  Father  of  Light  and  Fountain 
of  all  Knowledge,  communicates  to  mankind  that  portion  of  truth  which  he  has  laid 
within  the  reach  of  their  natural  faculties.  Revelation  is  natural  Reason  enlarged  by 
a  new  set  of  discoyeries,  communicated  by  God  immediately,  which  Reason  vouches 
the  truth  of,  by  the  testimony  and  proofs  it  gives  that  they  come  from  God.  So  that 
he  that  takes  away  Reason,  to  make  way  for  revelation  puts  out  the  light  of  both,  and 
does  much-what  the  same,  as  if  he  would  persuade  a  man  to  put  out  his  eyes,  the  bet- 
ter to  receive  the  remote  hght  of  an  invisible  star  by  a  telescope."  —  Locke,  Essays 
Book  IV.  Chap.  XLX.  §  4.  . 

(150) 


BOOK  II. 

THE    EELATION    OF    THE  KELIGIOUS   SENTIMENT  TO  GOD,  OR 
A    DISCOURSE    OF    INSPIRATION. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   IDEA   AND    CONCEPTION   OF    GOD. 

Two  things  are  necessary  to  render  Religion  possible ; 
namely,  a  religious  faculty  in  Man,  and  God  out  of 
Man  as  the  object  of  that  religious  faculty.  The  ex- 
istence of  these  two  things  admitted,  Religion  follows 
necessarily,  as  vision  from  the  existence  of  a  seeing 
faculty  in  Man,  and  that  of  light  out  of  him.  Now 
the  existence  of  the  religious  element,  as  it  was  said 
before,  implies  its  object.  We  have  naturally  a  Senti- 
ment of  God.  Reason  gives  us  an  Idea  of  Him. 
But  to  these  we  superadd  a  Conception  of  Him.  Can 
this  definite  conception  be  adequate  ?  Certainly  not. 
The  Idea  of  God,  as  the  Infinite,  may  exhaust  the 
most  transcendent  Imagination  ;  it  is  the  highest  Idea 
of  which  Man  is  capable.  But  is  God  to  be  measured 
by  our  Idea  ?     Shall  the  finite  circumscribe  the  Infinite  ? 

(151) 


152  GOD   NOT   PEKSONAL 

The  existence  of  God  is  so  plainly  and  deeply  writ 
both  in  us  and  out  of  us,  in  what  we  are,  and  what  we 
experience,  that  the  humblest  and  the  loftiest  minds 
may  be  satisfied  of  this  reality,  and  may  know  that 
there  is  an  absolute  Cause  ;  a  Ground  of  all  things ; 
the  Infinite  of  Power,  Wisdom,  Justice,  Love,  whereon 
we  may  repose,  wherein  we  may  confide.  This  con- 
clusion comes  alike  from  the  spontaneous  Sentiment, 
and  premeditated  Reflection ;  from  the  intuition  of 
Reason,  and  the  process  of  Reasoning.  This  Idea  of 
God  is  clear  and  distinct;  not  to  be  confounded  with 
any  other  idea. 

But  when  we  attempt  to  go  further,  to  give  a  logical 
description  of  Deity,  its  nature  and  essence ;  to  define 
and  classify  its  attributes ;  to  make  a  definite  Concep- 
tion of  God  as  of  the  finite  objects  of  the  senses  or  the 
understanding,  going  into  minute  details,  then  we  have 
nothing  but  our  own  subjective  notions,  which  do  not, 
of  necessity,  have  an  objective  reality  corresponding 
thereto.  All  men  may  know  God  as  the  Infinite.  His 
nature  and  essence  are  past  finding  out.  But  we  know 
God  only  in  part  —  from  the  manifestations  of  divinity, 
seen  in  nature,  felt  in  Man ;  manifestations  of  Matter 
and  Spirit.  Are  these  the  whole  of  God;  is  Man  his 
measure  ?  Then  is  He  exhausted,  and  not  infinite. 
We  aflix  the  terms  of  human  limitation  to  God,  and 
speak  of  his  Personality;  some  limiting  it  to  one,  others 
extending  it  to  three,  to  seven,  to  thirty,  or  to  many  mill- 
ions of  persons.  Can  such  terms  apply  to  the  Infinite? 
We  talk  of  a  personal  God.  If  thereby  we  only  deny 
that  he  has  the  limitations  of  unconscious  Matter,  no 
wrong  is  done.  But  our  conception  of  Personality  is 
that  of  finite  personality,  limited  by  human  imperfec- 
tions ;  hemmed  in  by  Time  and   Space  ;  restricted  by 


NOR  IMPERSONAL.  153 

partial  emotions,  displeasure,  wrath,  ignorance,  caprice. 
Can  this  be  said  of  God  ?  If  Matter  were  conscious,  as 
Locke  thinks  it  possible,  it  must  predicate  Materiality  of 
God  as  persons  predicate  Personality  of  him.  We  ap- 
ply the  term  impersonal.  If  it  mean  God  has  not  the 
limitations  of  our  personality  it  is  well.  But  if  it  mean 
that  he  has  those  of  unconscious  Matter,  it  is  worse  than 
the  other  term.  Can  God  be  personal  and  conscious, 
as  Joseph  and  Peter ;  unconscious  and  impersonal  as  a 
moss  or  the  celestial  ether  ?  No  man  will  say  it. 
Where  then  is  the  philosophic  value  of  such  terms  ? 

The  nature  of  God  is  past  finding  out.  "  There  is  no 
searching  of  his  understanding."  As  the  Absolute 
Cause,  God  must  contain  in  himself,  potentially,  the 
ground  of  consciousness,  of  personality  —  yes,  of  un- 
consciousness and  impersonality.  But  to  apply  these 
terms  to  Him,  seems  to  me,  a  vain  attempt  to  fathom 
the  abyss  of  the  Godhead  and  report  the  soundings. 
Will  our  line  reach  to  the  bottom  of  God  ?  There  is 
nothing  on  Earth,  or  in  Heaven,  to  which  we  can  com- 
pare him ;  of  course  we  can  have  no  image  of  him  in 
the  mind.^ 

*  There  has  been  some  controversy  on  this  question  of  the  personal- 
ity of  God  in  modern  times.  The  writings  of  Spinoza,  both  now  and 
formerly,  have  caused  much  discussion  of  this  point.  The  capital 
maxim  of  Spinoza  on  this  head  is,  all  attempts  to  determine  the  nature 
of  God,  are  a  negation  of  him.  Determinatio  negatio  est.  See  Ep.  50, 
p.  634,  ed.  Paulus.  He  thinks  God  has  self-conscious  personality  only 
in  self-conscious  persons,  i.  e.  men.    Ethic.  II.  Prop.  11,  and  Coroll. 

Some  have  thought  to  help  the  matter  by  the  Trinitarian  hj^pothe- 
sis.  If  there  were  but  one  man  in  the  universe,  he  could  not  indeed, 
it  is  said,  have  our  conception  of  personality,  which  demands  other 
persons.  This  condition  is  fulfilled  for  the  divine  Being  soon  as  we 
admit  a  trinity  in  unity.  Mystical  writers  have  always  inchned  to  a 
denial  of  the  personality  of  God.    Thus  Plotinus,  Dionysius  the  Areop- 


154  aOD'S    ESSENCE   NOT   TO   BE   KNOWN. 

There  has  been  enough  dogmatism  respecting  the 
nature,  essence,  and  personality  of  God ;  respecting  the 
Metaphysics  of  the  Deity,  and  that  by  men,  who,  per- 
haps, did  not  thoroughly  understand  all  about  the  na- 
ture, essence,  and  metaphysics  of  Man.  It  avails  noth- 
ing. Meanwhile  the  greatest  religious  souls  that  have 
ever  been,  are  content  to  fall  back  on  the  Sentiment 
and  the  Idea  of  God,  and  confess  that  none  by  search- 
ing can  perfectly  find  Him  .out.  They  can  say,  there- 
fore, with  an  old  Heathen,  "  Since  he  cannot  be  fully 
declared  by  any  one  name,  though  compounded  of 
never  so  many,  therefore  is  he  rather  to  be  called  by 
every  name,  he  being  both  one  and  all  things ;  so  that 
[to  express  the  whole  of  God,]  either  every  thing  must  be 
called  by  his  name,  or  he  by  the  name  of  every  thing."  ^ 
"  Call  him,  therefore,"  says  another  Pagan,  "  by  all 
names,  for  all  can  express  but  a  whisper  of  Him ;  call 
him  rather  by  no  name,  for  none  can  declare  his  Power, 
Wisdom,  and  Goodness." 

Malebranche  says,  with  as  much  philosophy  as  piety, 
''  One  ought  not  so  much  to  call  God  a  Spirit,  in  order 
to  express  positively  what  he  is,  as  in  order  to  signify 
that  he  is  not  Matter.     He  is  a  being  infinitely  perfect. 


agite,  Scotus  Erigena,  Meister  Eckart,  Tauler,  and  Bbhme,  to  men- 
tion no  more,  deny  it.  On  this  subject  see  Hegel,  Lectures  on  the 
proofs  of  the  existence  of  God,  at  the  end  of  Philosophie  der  Religion. 
Encyclopadle,  §  562,  et  seq.,  2d  ed.  See  the  subject  touched  upon  by 
Strauss,  Glaubenslehre,  §  33.  See  also  Nitzsch's  review  of  Strauss 
in  Studien  und  Kritiken  for  Jan.  1,  1842.  Sengler,  ubi  sup.,  B.  I.  p. 
Abs.  IL-IV. 

In  reference  to  Spinoza,  see  the  controversial  writings  of  Messrs. 
Norton  and  Ripley,  alcove  referred  to. 

^  See  the  Asclepian  Dialogue,  and  also  the  passages  from  Seneca 
and  Julian,  cited  in  Cudworth,  Vol.  II.  p.  679,  et  seq.,  Ch.  IV.  §  32. 


GOD''S  ESSENCE   NOT   TO   BE   KNOWN.  155 

Of  this  we  cannot  doubt.  But  in  the  same  manner  we 
ought  not  to  imagine  .  .  .  that  he  is  clothed  with  a 
human  body  .  .  .  under  color  that  that  figure  was  the 
most  perfect  of  any ;  so  neither  ought  we  to  imagine 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  human  ideas,  or  bears  any 
resemblance  to  our  Spirit,  under  color  that  we  know 
nothing  more  perfect  than  the  human  mind.  We  ought 
rather  to  believe  that  as  he  comprehends  the  perfection 
of  Matter,  without  being  material,  ...  so  he  compre- 
hends also  the  perfections  of  created  spirits  without 
being  Spirit,  in  the  manner  we  conceive  Spirit.  That 
his  true  name  is.  He  that  is,  or  in  other  words  being 
without  restriction,  All  Being,  the  Being  Infinite  and 
Universal."  ^  Still  we  have  a  positive  Idea  of  God. 
It  is  the  most  positive  of  all.  It  is  implied  logi- 
cally in  every  idea  that  we  form,  so  that  as  God 
himself  is  the  being  of  all  existence  ;  the  background 
and  cause  of  all  things  that  are ;  the  reality  of  all 
appearance,  so  the  Idea  of  God  is  the  central  truth,  as 
it  were,  of  all  other  ideas  whatever.  The  objects  of 
all  other  ideas  are  dependent,  and  not  final ;  the  object 
of  this  independent  and  ultimate.  This  Idea  of  an  In- 
dependent and  Infinite  Cause,  therefore,  is  necessarily 
presupposed  by  the  conception  of  any  dependent  and 
finite  effect.  For  example,  a  man  forms  a  notion  of  his 
own  existence.  This  notion  involves  that  of  depend- 
ence, which  conducts  him  back  to  that  on  which  de- 

^  Recherches  de  la  Verite,  Li  v.  III.  Ch.  IX.  as  cited  in  Hume,  Dia- 
logues concerning  Nat.  Rel.  Vol.  11.  p.  469.  See  Kant,  Kritik  der 
reinen  Vernunft,  p.  441-540,  7th  ed.  Weisse,  Die  Idee  der  Gottheit; 
1833.  Some  have  been  unwilling  to  attribute  heing  to  the  Deity,  since 
we  have  no  conception  nor  knowledge  of  heing  in  itself,  still  less  of  in- 
Jinite  heing.  Our  knowledge  of  heing  is  only  of  heing  this  and  that,  a 
conditioned  being,  which  is  not  predicable  of  God. 


156  IDEA   OF   GOD. 

pendence  rests.  He  has  no  complete  notion  of  his  own 
existence  without  the  notion  of  dependence  ;  nor  of  that 
without  the  object  on  which  he  depends.  Take  our 
stand  where  we  may,  and  reason,  we  come  back  logi- 
cally to  this  which  is  the  primitive  fact  in  all  our  intel- 
lectual conceptions,  just  as  each  point  in  the  circumfer- 
ence of  a  circle,  is  a  point  in  the  radius  thereof,  and  this 
leads  straightway  to  the  Centre,  whence  they  all  proceed.^ 
But  the  Idea  of  God  as  a  Being  of  Infinite  Power, 
Wisdom,  Love,  —  in  one  word,  the  Absolute  —  does 
not  satisfy.  It  seems  cold  ;  we  call  it  abstract.  We 
are  not  beings  of  Reason  alone  ;  so  are  not  satisfied 
with  mere  Ideas.  We  have  Imagination,  Feelings, 
limited  Affections,  Understanding,  Flesh  and  Blood. 
Therefore  we  want  a  Conception  of  God  which  shall 
answer  to  this  complex  nature  of  ours.  Man  may  be 
said  to  live  in  the  World  of  Eternity,  or  abstract  truth  ; 
that  of  Time,  or  historical  events  ;  that  of  Space,  or  of 
concrete  things.  Some  men  want,  therefore,  not  only 
an  Idea  for  the  first,  but  a  Conception  for  the  second, 
and  a  Form  for  the  third.  Accordingly  the  feelings. 
Fear,  Reverence,  Devotion,  Love,  naturally  personify 
God;  humanize  the  deity,  and  represent  the  Infinite 
under  the  limitations  of  a  finite  and  imperfect  being, 
whom  we  "  can  know  all  about."     He  has  the  thoughts, 

^  This  is  not  the  place  to  attempt  a  proof  of  God's  existence.  In 
Book  I.  Ch.  n.  I  could  only  hint  at  the  sources  of  argument.  See  in 
Weisse,  Kant,  and  Strauss,  a  criticism  on  the  various  means  of  proof 
resorted  to  by  different  Philosophers.  Weisse  divides  these  proofs 
into  three  classes.  1.  The  Ontological  argument,  which  leads  to  Pan- 
theism ;  II.  The  Cosmological,  which  leads  to  Deism ;  and  III.  the  The- 
ological, which  leads  to  pure  Theism.  See  Leibnitz,  Theodicee,  Pt  I. 
§  7,  p.  506,  ed.  Erdmann ;  1840,  and  his  Epist.  ad  Bierlingium,  in  his 
Epp.  ad  div.  Ed.  Kortholt,  Vol.  IV.  p.  21,  (cited  by  Strauss,  ubi  sup.). 


HUMAN   PERSONIFICATION   OF   GOD.  157 

feelings,  passions,  limitations  of  a  man ;  is  subject  to 
time  and  space  ;  sees,  remembers,  has  a  form.  This  is 
anthropomorphism.  It  is  well  in  its  place.  Some  rude 
men  seem  to  require  it.  They  must  paint  to  themselves 
a  deity  with  a  form  —  the  Ancient  of  days  ;  a  venera- 
ble monarch  seated  on  a  throne,  surrounded  by  troops 
of  followers.  But  it  must  be  remembered  all  this  is 
poetry ;  this  personal  and  anthropomorphitic  Concep- 
tion is  a  phantom  of  the  brain  that  has  no  existence  in- 
dependent of  ourselves.  A  poet  personifies  a  mountain 
or  the  moon ;  addresses  it  as  if  it  wore  the  form  of 
man,  could  see  and  feel,  had  human  thoughts,  senti- 
ments, hopes  and  pleasures  and  expectations.  What 
the  poet's  fancy  does  for  the  mountain,  the  feelings  of 
reverence  and  devotion  do  for  the  Idea  of  God.  They 
clothe  it  with  a  human  personality,  because  that  is  the 
highest  which  is  known  to  us.  Men  would  compre- 
hend the  deity  ;  they  can  only  apprehend  him.  A  Bea- 
ver, or  a  Reindeer,  if  possessed  of  religious  faculties, 
would  also  conceive  of  the  deity  with  the  limitations  of 
its  own  personality,  as  a  Beaver  or  a  Reindeer  — whose 
faculties  as  such  were  perfect ;  but  the  Conception,  like 
our  own,  must  be  only  subjective,  for  even  Man  is  no 
measure  of  God.^ 

Now  by  reasoning  we  lay  aside  the  disguises  of  the 
Deity,  which  the  feelings  have  ^vrapped  about  the  Idea 
of  Him.  We  separate  the  substantial  from  the  phe- 
nomenal elements  in  the  Conception  of  God.  We  di- 
vest it  of  all  particular  form ;  all  sensual  or  corporeal 


^  See  Xenophanes  as  cited  above  by  Eusebius,  P.  E.  Xm.  18. 
See  Karsten,  ubi*  sup.  Vol.  I.  p.  35,  et  seq.  The  passage  from  Seneca, 
De  Superstitlone,  preserved  by  Augustine,  Civ.  Dei  Lib.  VI.  C.  10. 
Seneca,  0pp.  ed.  Paris,  1829,  IV.  p.  39,  et  seq. 

14 


158  ANALYSIS    OF   ANTHROPOMORPHITIC 

attributes,  and  have  no  image  of  God  in  the  mind.  He 
is  Spirit,^  and  therefore  free  from  the  limitations  of 
Space.  He  is  nowhere  in  particular,  but  everywhere 
in  general,  essentially  and  vitally  omnipresent.  Deny- 
ing all  particular  form,  we  must  affirm  of  him  Univer- 
sal Being. 

The  next  step  in  the  analysis  is  to  lay  aside  all  par- 
tial action  of  the  deity.  He  is  equally  the  cause  of  the 
storm  and  the  calm  sunshine  ;  of  the  fierceness  of  the 
Lion  and  the  Lamb's  gentleness  so  long  as  both  obey 
the  laws  they  are  made  to  keep.  All  the  natural  action 
in  the  material  world  is  God's  action,  whether  the  wind 
blows  a  plank  and  the  shipwrecked  woman  who  grasps 
it,  to  the  shore,  or  scatters  a  fleet  and  sends  families  to 
the  bottom.  But  Infinite  Action  or  Causation  must  be 
attributed  to  Him. 

Then  all  mental  processes,  like  those  of  men,  are 
separated  from  the  Idea  of  Him.  We  cannot  say  he 
thinks,  for  that  is  to  reason  from  the  known  to  the  un- 
known, which  is  impossible  to  the  omniscient ;  nor  that 
he  plans  or  consults  with  himself,  for  that  implies  the 
infirmity  of  not  seeing  the  best  way  all  at  once ;  nor 
that  he  remembers  or  foresees,  for  that  implies  a  restric- 
tion in  time,  a  past  and  a  present,  while  the  Infinite 
must  fill  Eternity,  all  time,  as  well  as  Immensity  all 
space.  We  cannot  attribute  to  Him  reflection,  which 
is  after-thought,  nor  imagination,  which  is  forethought, 
since  both  imply  limited  faculties.  Judgment,  fancy, 
comparison,  induction  —  these  are  the  operations  of 
finite  minds.  They  are  not  to  be  applied  to  the  divine 
Being  except  as  figures  of  speech  ;  then  they  merely  rep- 

^  I  use  the  term  Spirit  simply  as  a  negation  of  the  limitations  of  mat- 
ter.    We  cannot  tell  the  essence  of  God. 


CONCEPTIONS    OF   GOD.  159 

resent  an  unknown  emotion.     We  have  got  a  name 
but  no  real  thing.     But  Infinite  Knowing  must  be  his. 

We  go  still  further  in  this  analysis  of  the  conception 
of  God,  and  all  partial  feeling  must  be  denied.  We 
cannot  say  that  he  hates  ;  is  angry,  or  grieved;  repents  ; 
is  moved  by  the  special  prayer  of  James  and  John ; 
that  he  is  sad  to-day  and  to-morrow  joyful;  all  these  are 
human,  limitations  of  our  personality,  and  are  no  more 
to  be  ascribed  to  God  than  the  form  of  the  Reindeer,  or 
the  shrewdness  of  the  Beaver.  But  Love  implies  no 
finiteness.     This  we  conceive  as  Infinite. 

At  the  end  of  the  Analysis,  what  is  left  ?  Being, 
Cause,  Knowledge,  Love,  each  with  no  conceivable 
limitation.  To  express  it  in  a  word,  a  being  of  Infinite 
Power,  Wisdom,  Justice,  Love,  and  Hohness,  Fidelity 
to  himself.  Thus  by  an  analysis  of  the  conception  of 
God,  we  find  in  fact  or  by  implication,  just  what  was 
given  synthetically  by  the  intuition  of  Reason.  But 
do  these  qualities  exhaust  the  Deity?  Surely  not. 
They  only  form  our  Idea  of  Him.  It  is  idle,  impious 
in  men  to  say,  the  finite  creature  of  yesterday  can 
measure  Him  who  is  the  All  in  All,  the  True,  the  Holy, 
the  Good,  the  Altogether-Beautiful.  Let  a  man  look 
into  the  Milky-way,  and  strive  to  conceive  of  the  Mind 
that  is  the  Cause,  the  Will,  of  all  those  centres  to 
unknown  worlds,  and  ask  What  can  I  know  of  Him  ? 
Nay,  let  a  man  turn  over  in  his  hand  a  single  crystal 
of  snow,  and  consider  its  elements,  their  history,  trans- 
formation, influence,  and  try  to  grasp  up  the  philosophy 
of  this  little  atom  of  matter,  and  he  wiU  learn  to  bow 
before  the  thought  of  Him,  and  say  there  is  no  search- 
ing of  his  understanding.  If  there  are  other  orders  of 
beings  higher  than   ourselves,  their  idea  of  God  must 


160  MAN   NOT   THE   MEASURE   OF   GOD. 

include  elements  above  our  reach.     The  finite  approx- 
imates, but  cannot  reach  the  Infinite. 

In  criticizing  the  conception  of  God,  I  would  not 
attempt  the  fool's  task,  to  define  and  describe  God's 
nature,  but  to  separate  our  Idea  of  Him  from  all  other 
ideas ;  not  to  tell  all  in  God  that  answers  to  the  Idea 
in  Man,  —  that  of  course  is  impossible,  but  to  separate 
the  eternal  Idea  from  the  transient  conception ;  to  de- 
clare the  positive  and  necessary  existence  of  this  Idea 
in  Man  ;  of  its  Object  out  of  Man,  while  I  deny  the 
existence  of  any  limitations  of  human  personality,  or 
of  our  anthropomorphitic  consciousness  in  the  Deity. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  RELATION   OP  NATURE   TO    GOD. 

To  determine  the  relation  of  Man  to  God  it  is  well 
to  determine  first  the  relation  of  God  to  Nature  —  the 
material  world  —  that  we  may  have  the  force  of  the 
analogy  of  that  relation  to  aid  us.  Conscious  man 
may  be  very  dissimilar  to  unconscious  matter,  but  yet 
their  relations  to  God  are  analogous.  Both  depend  on 
him.  To  make  out  the  point  and  decide  the  relation 
of  God  to  Nature  we  must  start  from  the  Idea  of  God, 
which  was  laid  down  above,  a  Being  of  Infinite  Power, 
Wisdom,  Justice,  Love,  and  Holiness.  Now  to  make 
the  matter  clear  as  noonday,  God  is  either  present 
in  all  space,  or  not  present  in  all  space.  If  infinite, 
he  must  be  present  everywhere  in  general,  and  not 
limited  to  any  particular  spot,  as  an  old  writer  so 
beautifully  says :  "  Even  Heaven  and  the  Heaven  of 
Heavens  cannot  contain  Him."  ^  Heathen  writers 
are  full  of  such  expressions.^  God,  then,  is  universally 
present  in  the  world  of  matter.  He  is  the  substantiality 
of  matter.  The  circle  of  his  being  in  space  has  an 
infinite  radius.     We  cannot  say,  Lo  here  or  Lo  there  — 

^  See,  too,  the  beautiful  statement  in  Ps.  CXXXIX.  1-13. 
*  See  those  in  Cudworth,  Chap.  IV.  §  28,  and  elsewhere. 

14  *  (161) 


162  GOD   WORKS   IN   NATURE. 

for  he  is  everywhere.  He  fills  all  Nature  with  his  over- 
flowing currents ;  without  him  it  were  not.  His  Pres- 
ence gives  it  existence ;  his  Will  its  law  and  force ;  his 
Wisdom  its  order;  his  Goodness  its  beauty. 

It  follows  unavoidably,  from  the  Idea  of  God,  that 
he  is  present  everywhere  in  space ;  not  transiently 
present,  now  and  then,  but  immanently  present,  always; 
his  centre  here ;  his  circumference  nowhere ;  just  as 
present  in  the  eye  of  an  emmet  as  in  the  Jewish  holy  of 
holies,  or  the  sun  itself.  We  may  call  common  what 
God  has  cleansed  with  his  presence ;  but  there  is  no 
corner  of  space  so  small,  no  atom  of  matter  so  de- 
spised and  little  bat  God,  the  Infinite,  is  there.^ 

Now,  to  push  the  inquiry  nearer  the  point.  The 
Nature  or  Substance  of  God,  as  represented  by  our 
Idea  of  him,  is  divisible  or  not  divisible.  If  infinite  he 
must  be  indivisible,  a  part  of  God  cannot  be  in  this 
point  of  space,  and  another  in  that ;  his  Power  in  the 
sun,  his  Wisdom  in  the  moon,  and  his  Justice  in  the 
earth.  He  must  be  wholly,  vitally,  essentially  present 
as  much  in  one  point  as  in  another  point,  or  all  points  ; 
as  essentially  present  in  each  point  at  any  one  moment 
of  time  as  at  any  other  or  all  moments  of  time.  He  is 
there  not  idly  present  but  actively,  as  much  now  as  at 
creation.  Divine  omnipotence  can  neither  slumber  nor 
sleep.  Was  God  but  transiently  active  in  Matter  at 
creation,  his  action  now  passed  away  ?  From  the  Idea 
of  him  it  follows  that  He  is  immanent  in  the  world, 
however  much  he  also  transcends  the  world.  "  Our 
Father  worketh   hitherto,"  and  for  this  reason  Nature 


^  See  the  judicious  remarks  of  Lord  Brougham,  Dialogue  on  In- 
stinct, Dial.  n.  near  the  end.  Dr.  Palfrey,  in  his  Dudleian  Lecture, 
attributes  only  a  qualified  omnipresence  to  the  Deity. 


GOD   THE  LIGHT   OF  NATURE.  163 

works,  and  so  has  done  since  its  creation.  There  is  no 
spot  the  foot  of  hoary  Time  has  trod  on,  but  it  is  in- 
stinct with  God's  activity.  He  is  the  ground  of  Nature ; 
what  is  permanent  in  the  passing;  what  is  real  in  the 
apparent.  All  Nature  then  is  but  an  exhibition  of  God 
to  the  senses  ;  the  veil  of  smoke  on  which  his  shadow 
falls ;  the  dew-drop  in  which  the  heaven  of  his  magnifi- 
cence is  poorly  imaged.  The  Sun  is  but  a  sparkle  of 
his  splendor.  Endless  and  without  beginning  flows 
forth  the  stream  of  divine  influence  that  encircles  and 
possesses  the  all  of  things.  From  God  it  comes,  to 
God  it  goes.  The  material  world  is  perpetual  growth  ; 
a  continual  transfiguration,  renewal  that  never  ceases. 
Is  this  without  God  ?  Is  it  not  because  God,  who  is 
ever  the  same,  flows  into  it  without  end  ?  It  is  the 
fulness  of  God  that  flows  into  the  crystal  of  the  rock, 
the  juices  of  the  plant,  the  life  of  the  emmet  and  the 
elephant.  He  penetrates  and  pervades  the  World.  All 
things  are  full  of  Him,  who  surrounds  the  sun,  the  stars, 
the  universe  itself;  "  goes  through  all  lands,  the  expanse 
of  oceans,  and  the  profound  Heaven."  ^ 

Inanimate  matter,  by  itself,  is  dependent ;  incapable 
of  life,  motion,  or  even  existence.  To  assert  the  op- 
posite is  to  make  it  a  God.  In  its  present  state  it  has 
no  will.  Yet  there  is  in  it  existence,  motion,  life.  The 
smallest  molecule  in  a  ray  of  polarized  light  and  the 
largest  planet  in  the  system  exist  and  move  as  if  pos- 
sessed of  a  Will,  powerful,  regular,  irresistible.  The 
powers  of  Nature,  then,  that  of  Gravitation,  Electricity, 
Growth,  what  are  they  but  modes  of  God's  action  ? 

^  Virgil,  Georgic,  IV.  222  See  many  passages  cited  by  Cudwortli, 
chap.  IV.  §  31,  p.  664,  et  seq.  455,  et  seq.  and  the  passages  collected 
from  Tschaleddin  Rumi  by  Riickert,  in  his  Gedichte,  and  Tholuck, 
Bluthensammlung  aus  der  morgenlandischen  Mystik. 


164  GOD  REVEALED  IN  NATURE. 

If  we  look  deep  into  the  heart  of  this  mystery,  such 
must  be  the  conclusion.  Nature  is  moved  by  the  first 
Mover ;  beautified  by  him  who  is  the  Sum  of  Beauty  ; 
animated  by  him  who  is  of  all  the  Creator,  Defence, 
and  Life.^ 

Such,  then,  is  the  relation  of  God  to  Matter  up  to 
this  point.  He  is  immanent  therein  and  perpetually 
active.  Now  to  go  further,  if  this  be  true,  it  would 
seem  that  the  various  objects  and  things  in  Nature 
were  fitted  to  express  and  reveal  different  degi-ees  and 
measures  of  the  divine  influence,  so  to  say ;  that  this 
degree  of  manifestation  in  each  depends  on  the  capacity 
which  God  has  primarily  bestowed  upon  it ;  ^  that 
the  material  but  inorganic,  the  vegetable  but  inanimate, 
and  the  animal  but  irrational  world,  received  each  as 
high  a  mode  of  divine  influence  as  its  several  nature 
would  allow. 

Then,  to  sum  up  all  in  brief,  the  Material  World 
with  its  objects  sublimely  great,  or  meanly  little,  as  we 
judge  them ;  its  atoms  of  dust,  its  orbs  of  fire  ;  the 
rock  that  stands  by  the  sea-shore,  the  water  that  wears 
it  away ;  the  worm,  a  birth  of  yesterday,  which  we 
trample    underfoot;    the    streets  of  constellations  that 

^  Cudworth  makes  three  hj-potheses ;  either,  1.  All  tilings  happen 
in  nature  by  the  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms,  and  this  it  is  Atheism  to 
suppose ;  or,  2.  There  is  in  Nature  a  formative  faculty  "  a  plastic 
nature,"  which  does  the  work  ;  or,  3.  Each  act  is  done  immediately  by- 
God.  He,  it  is  well  known,  adopts  the  second  alternative.  See  chap. 
m.  §  37.  See  also  More's  Enchiridion  Metaphysicum ;  Antidote 
against  Atheism,  Book  II.;  Apol.  pro  Cartesio,  p.  115,  et  seq.  On  the 
Transcendency  of  God,  see  Descartes,  Princip.  P.  I.  No.  21,  et  al. 
Leibnitz.  Theod.  No.  385,  et  al. 

^  I  will  not  say  there  is  not,  in  the  abstract,  as  much  of  divine  in- 
fluence in  a  wheat-straw  as  in  a  icorld.  But  in  reference  to  ourselves 
there  appear  to  be  various  degrees  of  it. 


NATURE  OBEYS  GOD'S  PERFECT  LAW.       165 

gleam  perennial  overhead ;  the  aspiring  palm  tree, 
fixed  to  one  spot,  and  the  lions  that  are  sent  out  free, 
these  incarnate  and  make  visible  all  of  God  their  several 
natures  will  admit.  If  Man  were  not  spiritual  and 
could  yet  conceive  of  the  aggregate  of  invisible  things, 
he  might  call  it  God,  for  he  could  go  no  further. 

Now,  as  God  is  Infinite,  imperfection  is  not  to  be 
spoken  of  Him.  His  Will  therefore  —  if  we  may  so 
use  that  term — is  always  the  same.  As  Nature  has 
of  itself  no  power,  and  God  is  present  and  active 
therein,  it  must  obey  and  represent  his  unalterable  will. 
Hence,  seeing  the  uniformity  of  operation,  that  things 
preserve  their  identity,  we  say  they  are  governed  by  a 
Law  that  never  changes.  It  is  so.  But  this  Law  — 
what  is  it  but  the  Will  of  God  ;  a  mode  of  divine 
action  ?  It  is  this  in  the  last  analysis.  The  apparent 
secondary  causes  do  not  prevent  this  conclusion. 

The  things  of  Nature,  having  no  will,  obey  this  law 
from  necessity .1  They  thus  reflect  God's  image  and 
make  real  his  conception — if  we  may  use  such  lan- 
guage with  this  application.  They  are  tools,  not  Artists. 
We  never  in  Nature  see  the  smallest  departure  from 
Nature's  law.  The  granite,  the  grass,  keep  their  law ; 
none  go  astray  from  the  flock  of  stars ;  fire  does  not 
refuse  to  burn,  nor  water  to  be  wet.  We  look  back- 
wards and  forwards,  but  the  same  law  records  every- 
where the  obedience  that  is  paid  it.  Our  confidence  in 
the  uniformity  of  Nature's  law  is  complete,  in  other 
words,  in  the  fact  that  God  is  always  the  same ;  his 
modes  of  action  alwavs  the  same.     This  is  true  of  the 


^  I  use  the  term  obedience  figuratively.     Of  course  there  is  no  real 
obedience  without  ^0M;er  io  disobey. 


166       NATURE  OBEYS  GOD's  PERFECT  LAW. 

inorganic,  the  vegetable,  the  animal  world.^  Each 
thing  keeps  its  law  with  no  attempt  at  violation  of  it.^ 
From  this  obedience  comes  the  regularity  and  order  ap- 
parent in  Nature.  Obeying  the  law  of  God,  his  om- 
nipotence is  on  its  side.  To  oppose  a  law  of  Nature, 
therefore,  is  to  oppose  the  Deity.  It  is  sure  to  redress 
itself. 

But  these  created  things  have  no  consciousness,  so  far 
as  we  know,  at  least  nothing  which  is  the  same  with 
our  self-consciousness.  They  have  no  moral  will ;  no 
power  in  general  to  do  otherwise  than  as  they  do. 
Their  action  is  not  the  result  of  forethought,  reflection, 
judgment,  voluntary  obedience  to  an  acknowledged 
law.  No  one  supposes  the  Bison,  the  Rosebush,  and 
the  Moon,  reflect  in  themselves ;  make  up  their  mind 
and  say,  "  Go  to,  now,  let  us  bring  up  our  young,  or 
put  forth  our  blossoms,  or  give  light  at  nightfall,  because 
it  is  right  to  do  so,  and  God's  law."  Their  obedience 
is  unavoidable.     They  do   what  they  cannot  help   do- 


^M.  Leroux,  an  acute  and  brilliant  but  fanciful  writer,  thinks  the 
capabilities  of  man  change  by  civilization,  and,  which  is  to  the  present 
point,  that  the  animals  advance  also ;  that  the  Bee  and  the  Beaver 
are  on  the  march  towards  perfection,  and  have  made  some  progress 
already.  However  he  may  make  out  the  case  metaphysically,  it 
would  be  puzzHng  to  settle  the  matter  by  facts.  But  if  his 
hypothesis  were  admissible,  it  would  not  militate  with  the  doctrine  in 
the  text. 

'^  From  this  view  it  does  not  follow  that  animals  are  mere  machines, 
with  no  consciousness,  only  that  they  have  not  freewill.  However, 
in  some  of  the  superior  animals  there  is  some  small  degree  of  freedom 
apparent.  The  Dog  and  the  Elephant  seem  sometimes  to  exercise  a 
mind,  and  to  become  in  some  measure  emancipated,  from  their  instincts. 
On  this  curious  question,  see  Descartes,  Epist.  P.I.  Ep.  27, 67.  Henry 
More,  Epist.  ad  Cartesium. 


NATURE  OBEYS  GOD'S  PERFECT  LAW.       167 

ing.^  Their  obedience,  therefore,  is  not  their  merit,  but 
their  necessity.  It  is  power  they  passively  yield  to  ; 
not  a  duty  they  voluntarily  and  consciously  perform. 
All  the  action,  therefore,  of  the.  material,  inorganic, 
vegetable,  and  animal  world  is  mechanical,  vital,  or,  at 
the  utmost,  instinctive ;  not  self-conscious,  the  result  of 
private  will.^  There  is,  therefore,  no  room  for  caprice 
in  this  department.  The  Crystal  must  form  itself  after 
a  prescribed  pattern ;  the  Leaf  assume  a  given  shape  ; 
the  Bee  build  her  cell  with  six  angles.  The  mantle  of 
Destiny  is  girt  about  these  things.  To  study  the  laws 
of  Nature,  therefore,  is   to  study  the  modes  of  Uod's 

^  This  point  has  been  happily  touched  upon  by  Hooker,  Eccles. 
Polity,  Book  I.  chap.  HI.  §  2.  See  his  curious  reflections  in  the  fol- 
lowing sections. 

"  I  have  not  the  presumption  to  attempt  to  draw  a  line  between 
these  three  departments  of  Nature,  nor  to  tell  what  is  the  essence  of 
mechanical,  vital,  or  instinctive  action.  I  would  only  indicate  a  distinc- 
tion that,  to  my  mind,  is  very  plain.  But  I  cannot  pretend  to  say  where 
one  ends  and  the  other  begins.  Again,  it  may  seem  unphilosophical 
to  deny  consciousness,  or  even  self-consciousness  to  the  superior  ani- 
mals ;  but  if  they  possess  a  self-consciousness,  it  is  something  appar- 
ently so  remote  from  ours,  that  it  only  leads  to  confusion  if  both  are 
called  by  the  same  term.  The  functions  of  a  plant  we  cannot  ex- 
plain by  the  laws  of  mechanical  action  ;  nor  the  function  of  an  animal, 
a  Dog  for  example,  by  any  qualities  of  body.  On  this  subject  see 
Whewell,  Hist.  Inductive  Sciences,  Book  IX.  chap.  I.-IH.  Cudworth, 
chap.  HI.  §  37,  No.  17,  et  seq.,  has  shown  that  there  may  be  sentient, 
and  not  mere  mechanical  life,  without  consciousness,  and  therefore  wlth- 
OMt freewill.  Is  not  this  near  the  truth,  that  God  alone  is  absolutely 
free,  and  man  has  a  relative  freedom,  the  degree  of  which  may  be 
constantly  increased  ?  Taking  a  certain  stand-point,  it  is  true,  Free- 
dom and  Necessity  are  the  same  thing,  and  may  be  predicated  or  denied 
of  Deity  indifferently,  thus  if  God  is  perfect,  all  his  action  is  perfect. 
He  can  do  no  otherwise  than  as  he  does.  Perfection  therefore  is  his 
necessity,  but  it  is  his  freedom  none  the  less.  Here  the  difference  is 
merely  in  words. 


168  RELIGIOUS     INFLUENCE 

action.  Science  becomes  sacred,  and  passes  into  a  sort 
of  devotion.  Well  says  the  old  sage,  "  Geometry  is 
the  praise  of  God."  It  reveals  the  perfections  of  the 
divine  Mind,  for  God  manifests  himself  in  every  object 
of  science,  in  the  half-living  Molecules  of  powdered- 
wood  ;  in  the  Comet  with  its  orbit  which  imagination 
cannot  surround ;  in  the  Cones  and  Cycloids  of  the 
Mathematician,  that  exist  nowhere  in  the  world  of 
concrete  things,  but  which  the  conscious  mind  carries 
thither. 

Since  all  these  objects  represent,  more  or  less,  the 
divine  mind,  and  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  it,  and  so 
always  at  one  with  God,  they  express,  it  may  be,  all  of 
deity  which  Matter  in  these  three  modes  can  contain, 
and  thus  exhibit  all  of  God  that  can  be  made  manifest 
to  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the  other  senses  of  man.  Since 
these  things  are  so,  Nature  is  not  only  strong  and 
beautiful,  but  has  likewise  a  religious  aspect.  This  fact 
was  noticed  in  the  very  earliest  times  ;  appears  in  the 
rudest  worship,  which  is  an  adoration  of  God  in  Na- 
ture. It  will  move  man's  heart  to  the  latest  day,  and 
exert  an  influence  on  souls  that  are  deepest  and  most 
holy.  Who  that  looks  on  the  ocean,  in  its  anger  or  its 
play ;  who  that  walks  at  twilight  under  a  mountain's 
brow,  listens  to  the  sighing  of  the  pines,  touched  by 
the  indolent  wind  of  summer,  and  hears  the  light  tinkle 
of  the  brook,  murmuring  its  quiet  tune,  —  who  is  there 
but  feels  the  deep  Religion  of  the  scene  ?  In  the  heart 
of  a  city  we  are  called  away  from  God.  The  dust  of 
man's  foot,  and  the  sooty  print  of  his  fingers  are  on  all 
we  see.  The  very  earth  is  unnatural,  and  the  Heaven 
scarce  seen.  In  a  crowd  of  busy  men  which  set 
through  its  streets,  or  flow  together  of  an  holiday  ;  in 
the  dust  and  jar,  the  bustle  and  strife  of  business,  there 


OF   NATURAL   SCENERY.  169 

is  little  to  remind  us  of  God.  Men  must  build  a  cathe- 
dral for  that.  But  everywhere  in  nature,  we  are  carried 
straightway  back  to  Him.  The  fern,  green  and  grow- 
ing amid  the  frost;  each  little  grass  and  lichen  is  a 
silent  memento.  The  first  bird  of  spring,  and  the  last 
rose  of  summer  ;  the  grandeur  or  the  dulness  of  evening 
and  morning;  the  rain,  the  dew,  the  sunshine  ;  the  stars 
that  come  out  to  watch  over  the  farmer's  rising  corn  ; 
the  birds  that  nestle  contentedly,  brooding  over  their 
young,  quietly  tending  the  little  strugglers  with  their 
beak,  —  all  these  have  a  religious  significance  to  a 
thinking  soul.  Every  violet  blooms  of  God,  each  lily 
is  fragrant  with  the  presence  of  deity.  The  awful 
scenes,  of  storm,  and  lightning  and  thunder,  seem  but 
the  sterner  sounds  of  the  great  concert,  wherewith  God 
speaks  to  man.  Is  this  an  accident  ?  Ay,  earth  is  full 
of  such  "  accidents."  When  the  seer  rests  from  relig- 
ious thought,  or  when  the  world's  temptations  make  his 
soul  tremble,  and  though  the  spirit  be  willing  the  flesh 
is  weak;  when  the  perishable  body  weighs  down  the 
mind,  musing  on  many  things ;  when  he  wishes  to 
draw  near  to  God,  he  goes,  not  to  the  city  —  there  con- 
scious men  obstruct  him  with  their  works  —  but  to  the 
meadow,  spangled  all  over  with  flowers,  and  sung  to  b}/^ 
every  bird ;  to  the  mountain,  "  visited  all  night  by 
ti'oops  of  stars  ;  "  to  the  ocean,  the"  undying  type  of 
shifting  phenomena  and  unchanging  law  ;  to  the  forest, 
stretching  out  motherly  arms,  with  its  mighty  grow^th 
and  awful  shade,  and  there  in  the  obedience  these  things 
pay,  in  their  order,  strength,  beauty,  he  is  encountered 
front  to  front,  with  the  awful  presence  of  Almighty 
power.  A  voice  cries  to  him  from  the  thicket,  "  God 
will  provide."  The  bushes  burn  with  deity.  Angels 
minister  to  him.     There  is  no  mortal   pang,  but  it  is 

15 


170  GOD   IN   NATURE. 

allayed  by  God^s  fair  voice  as  it  whispers,  in  nature, 
still  and  small,  it  may  be,  but  moving  on  the  face  of  the 
deep,  and  bringing  light  out  of  darkness. 

"  Oh  joy  that  in  our  embers, 
Is  something  that  doth  hve, 
That  Nature  yet  remembers 
What  was  so  fugitive." 

Now  to  sum  up  the  result.  It  seems  from  the  very 
Idea  of  God  that  he  must  be  infinitely  present  in  each 
point  of  space.  This  immanence  of  God  in  Matter  is 
the  basis  of  his  influence ;  this  is  modified  by  the 
capacities  of  the  objects  in  Nature  ;  all  of  its  action  is 
God's  action ;  its  laws  modes  of  that  action.  The  im- 
position of  a  law  then,  which  is  perfect,  and  is  also  per- 
fectly obeyed,  though  blindly  and  without  self-conscious- 
ness, seems  to  be  the  measure  of  God's  relation  to 
Matter.  Its  action  therefore  is  only  mechanical,  vital, 
or  instinctive,  not  voluntary  and  self-conscious.  From 
the  nature  of  these  things,  it  must  be  so. 


CHAPTER    III. 

STATEMENT   OF  THE  ANALOGY    DKAWN    FKOM     GOD'S    RELA- 
TION TO   NATURE. 

Now  if  God  be  present  in  Matter,  the  analogy  is  that 
he  is  also  present  in  Man.  But  to  examine  this 
point  more  closely,  let  us  set  out  as  before  from  the 
Idea  of  God.  If  he  have  not  the  limitations  of  matter, 
but  is  Infinite,  as  the  Idea  declares,  then  he  pervades 
Spirit  as  well  as  Space ;  is  in  Man  as  well  as  out  of 
him.  If  it  follows  from  the  Idea  that  he  is  immanent 
in  the  Material  World  —  in  a  moss  ;  it  follows  also 
that  he  must  be  immanent  in  the  Spiritual  world  —  in 
a  man.  If  he  is  immanently  active,  and  thus  totally 
and  essentially  present,  in  each  corner  of  Space,  and 
each  Atom  of  creation,  then  is  he  as  universally  present 
in  all  Spirit.  If  the  reverse  be  true,  then  he  is  not  om- 
nipresent, therefore  not  Infinite,  and  of  course  not  God. 
The  Infinite  God  must  fill  each  point  of  Spirit  as  of 
Space.  Here  then  in  God's  presence  in  the  soul, 
is  a  basis  laid  for  his  direct  influence  on  men ;  as  his 
presence  in  Nature  is  the  basis  of  his  direct  influence 
there. 

(171) 


172  GOD   IN  MAN. 

As  in  Nature  his  influence  was  modified  only  by  the 
capacities  of  material  things,  so  here  must  it  be  modi- 
fied only  by  the  capabilities  of  spiritual  things  ;  there  it 
assumed  the  forms  of  mechanical,  vital,  and  instinctive 
action ;  here  it  must  ascend  to  the  form  of  voluntary 
and  self-conscious  action.  This  conclusion  follows  un- 
deniably from  the  analogy  of  God's  presence  and 
activity  in  Matter.  It  follows  as  necessarily  from  the 
Idea  of  God,  for  as  he  is  the  materiality  of  Matter,  so  is 
he  the  spirituality  of  Spirit. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   GENERAL  RELATION   OF   SUPPLY  TO    WANT. 

We  find  in  Nature  that  every  want  is  naturally  sup- 
plied. That  is,  there  is  something  external  to  each 
created  being  to  answer  all  the  internal  wants  of  that 
being.  This  conclusion  could  have  been  anticipated 
without  experience,  since  it  follows  from  the  perfections 
of  the  Deity,  that  all  his  direct  works  must  be  perfect. 
Experience  shows  this  is  the  rule  in  nature.  We  never 
find  a  race  of  animals  destitute  of  what  is  most  needed 
for  them,  wandering  up  and  down,  seeking  rest  and 
finding  none.  What  is  most  certainly  needed  for  each, 
is  most  bountifully  provided.  The  supply  answers  the 
demand.  The  natural  circumstances,  therefore,  attend- 
ing a  race  of  animals,  for  example,  are  perfect.  The 
animal  keeps  perfectly  the  law,  or  condition  of  its  na- 
ture. The  result  of  these  perfect  circumstances  on  the 
one  hand,  and  perfect  obedience  on  the  other,  is  this,  — 
each  animal  in  its  natural  state,  attains  its  legitimate 
end,  reaches  perfection  after  its  kind.  Thus  every  Spar- 
row in  a  flock  is  perfect  in  the  qualities  of  a  Sparrow, 
at  least,  such  is  the  general  rule  ;  the  exceptions  to  it  are 
so  rare  they  only  seem  to  confirm  that  rule. 

15  *  (173) 


174  ANIMAL   WANTS    SUPPLIED. 

Now  to  apply  this  general  maxim  to  the  special  case 
of  Man.  We  are  mixed  beings,  spirits  wedded  to 
bodies.  Setting  aside  the  religious  nature  of  Man  for 
the  moment,  and  for  the  present  purpose  distributing 
our  faculties  into  the  animal,  intellectual,  affectional, 
and  moral,  let  us  see  the  relation  between  our  fourfold 
wants  and  the  supply  thereof  We  have  certain  ani- 
mal wants,  such  as  the  desire  of  food,  shelter,  and  com- 
fort. Our  animal  welfare,  even  our  animal  existence, 
depends  on  the  relation  of  the  world  to  these  wants,  on 
the  condition  that  they  are  supplied.  Now  we  find  in 
the  world  of  Nature,  exterior  to  ourselves,  a  supply  foi 
these  demands.  It  is  so  placed  that  man  can  reach  it 
for  himself  To  speak  in  general  terms,  there  is  not  a 
natural  want  in  our  body  which  has  not  its  correspond- 
ing supply,  placed  out  of  the  body.  There  is  not  even 
a  disease  of  the  body,  brought  upon  us  by  disobedience 
of  its  law,  but  there  is  somewhere  a  remedy,  at  least  an 
alleviation  of  that  disease.  The  peculiar  supply  of  pe- 
culiar wants  is  provided  most  abundantly  when  most 
needed,  and  where  most  needed ;  furs  in  the  North, 
spices  in  the  South,  antidotes  where  the  poison  is  found. 
God  is  a  bountiful  parent  and  no  step-father  to  the  body, 
and  does  not  pay  off,  to  his  obedient  children,  a  penny 
of  satisfaction  for  a  pound  of  want.  Natural  supply 
balances  natural  want  the  world  over. 

But  this  is  not  all.  How  shall  Man  find  the  supply 
that  is  provided  ?  It  will  be  useless  unless  there  is 
some  faculty  to  mediate  between  it  and  the  want. 
Now  Man  is  furnished  with  a  faculty  to  perform  his 
office.  It  is  instinct  which  we  have  in  common  with 
the  lower  animals,  and  understanding'  which  we  have 
more  exclusively,  at  least  no  other  animal  possessing  it 
in  the  same  degree  with  ourselves.     Instinct  anticipates 


INSTINCT    AND    UNDERSTANDING.  175 

experience.  It  acts  spontaneously  \vhere  we  have  no 
previous  knowledge,  yet  as  if  we  were  fully  possessed 
of  ideas.  It  shows  itself  as  soon  as  we  are  born,  in  the 
impulse  that  prompts  the  infant  to  his  natural  food.  It 
appears  complete  in  all  animals.  It  looks  only  forward, 
and  is  a  perfect  guide  so  far  as  it  goes.  The  young 
chick  pecks  adroitly  at  the  tiny  worm  it  meets  the  first 
hour  it  leaves  the  shell.^  It  needs  no  instruction.  The 
lower  animals  have  nothing  bat  instinct  for  their  guide. 
It  is  sufficient  for  their  purpose.  They  act,  therefore, 
without  reflection  ;  from  necessity,  and  are  subordinate 
to  their  instinct,  and  therefore  must  always  remain  in 
the  instinctive  state.^  Children  and  savages  —  who  are 
in  some  respects  the  children  of  the  human  race  —  act 
chiefly  by  instinct,  but  constantly  approach  the  develop- 
ment of  the  understanding. 

This  acts  in  a  different  way.  It  generalizes  from  ex- 
perience ;  makes  an  induction  from  facts ;  a  deduction 
from  principles.  It  looks  both  backwards  and  forwards. 
The  man  of  understanding  acts  from  experience,  reflec- 
tion, forethought,  and  habit  If  he  had  no  other  impel- 
ling principle,  all  his  action  must  be  of  this  character. 
But  though  understanding  be  capable  of  indefinite  in- 
crease, instinct  can  never  be  wholly  extirpated  from 
this  compound  being,  man.  The  most  artificial  or  cul- 
tivated feels  the  twinges  of  instinctive  nature.     The 

^  See  Lord  Brougham,  Dialogues  on  instinct,  for  some  remarkable 
facts. 

2  Wtewell,  ubi  sup.  Vol,  II.  Pt  I.  Book  IX.  Ch.  HI.  Man  may 
subdue  the  instinct  of  an  animal,  and  apparently  improve  the  creature, 
by  superinducing  his  own  understanding  upon  it.  The  pliant  nature 
of  dogs  and  horses  enables  them  to  yield  to  him  in  this  case.  But 
they  are  not  really  improved  in  the  qualities  of  a  dog  or  a  horse,  but 
only  become  caricatures  of  their  master's  caprice- 


176  A    GUIDE    TO    SUPPLY. 

lower  animals  rely  entirely  on  instinct ;  the  savage 
chiefly  thereon,  while  the  civilized  and  matured  man 
depends  mostly  on  understanding  for  his  guide.  As  the 
sphere  of  action  enlarges,  which  takes  place  as  the  boy 
outgrows  his  childhood,  and  the  savage  emerges  from 
barbarism,  instinct  ceases  to  be  an  adequate  guide,  and 
the  understanding  spontaneously  develops  itself  to  take 
its  place.^ 

In  respect,  then,  to  Man's  animal  nature,  this  fact  re- 
mains, that  there  is  an  external  supply  for  each  internal 
want,  and  a  guide  to  conduct  from  the  want  to  the  sup- 
ply. This  guide  is  adequate  to  the  purpose.  When  it 
is  followed,  and  thus  the  conditions  of  our  animal  na- 
ture complied  with,  the  want  is  satisfied,  becomes  a 
source  of  pleasure,  a  means  of  development.  In  this 
case  there  is  nothing  miraculous  intervening  between 
the  desire  and  its  gratification.  Man  is  hungry.  In- 
stinct leads  him  to  the  ripened  fruit.  He  eats  and  is 
appeased.  The  satisfaction  of  the  want  comes  natu- 
rally, by  a  regular  law,  which  God  has  imposed  upon 
the  constitution  of  Man.  He  is  blessed  by  obeying, 
and  cursed  by  violating  this  law.  God  himself  does 
not  transcend  this  law,  but  acts  through  it,  by  it,  in  it. 
We  observe  the  law  and  obtain  what  we  need.  Thus 
for  every  point  of  natural  desire  in  the  body,  there  is 
a  point  of  natural  satisfaction  out  of  the  body.  This 
guide  conducts,  fi^om  one  to  the  other,  as  a  radius  con- 
nects the  centre  with  the  circumference.  Our  animal 
welfare  is  complete  when  the  two  are  thus  brought  into 
contact. 

Now  the  same  rule  may  be  shown  to  hold  good  in 

^  See  some  profound  remarks  on  the  force  of  the  instinctive  life 
among  savages,  Bancroft,  ubi  sup.  Ch.  XXII. 


INTELLECTUAL   WANTS   SUPPLIED.  177 

each  other  department  into  which  we  have  divided  the 
human  faculties.  There  is  something  without  us  to 
correspond  to  each  want  of  the  Intellect.  This  is  found 
in  the  objects  of  Nature  ;  in  the  sublime,  the  useful,  the 
beautiful,  the  common  things  we  meet ;  in  the  ideas 
and  conceptions  that  arise  unavoidably  when  man,  the 
thinking  subject,  comes  intellectually  in  contact  with 
external  things,  the  object  of  thought.  We  turn  to 
these  things  instinctively,  at  first, 

"  The  eye,  —  it  cannot  choose  but  see, 
We  cannot  bid  the  ear  be  still ; 
Our  bodies  feel  where'er  they  be, 
Against  or  with  our  will." 

Man  is  not  sufficient  for  himself  intellectually,  more 
than  physically.  He  cannot  rely  wholly  on  what  he  is. 
There  is  at  first  nothing  in  Man  but  Man  himself ;  a 
being  of  multiform  tendencies,  and  many  powers  lying 
latent  —  germ  sheathed  in  germ.  Without  some  exter- 
nal object  to  rouse  the  senses,  excite  curiosity,  to  stimu- 
late the  understanding,  induce  reflection,  exercise  rea- 
son, judgment,  imagination,  —  all  these  faculties  would 
sleep  in  their  causes,  unused  and  worthless  in  the  soul. 
Obeying  the  instinctive  tendency  of  the  mind,  w^hich 
impels  to  thought,  keeping  its  laws,  we  gain  satisfaction 
for  the  intellectual  desires.  One  after  another  the  fac- 
ulties come  into  action,  grow  up  to  maturity,  and  intel- 
lectual welfare  is  complete  with  no  miracle,  but  by  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  of  mind. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  afFectional  and  moral 
nature  of  Man.  There  is  something  without  us  to  an- 
swer the  demands  of  the  Affections  and  the  Moral 
Sense,  and  we  turn  instinctively  to  them.  Does  God 
provide  for  the  animal  wants  and  no  more  ?     He  is  no 


178  MORAL  AND  AFFECTIONAL  WANT  SUPPLIED. 

step-father,  but  a  bountiful  parent  to  the  intellectual, 
afFectional,  and  moral  elements  of  his  child.  There  is 
a  point  of  satisfaction  out  of  these,  for  each  point  of 
desire  in  them,  and  a  guide  to  mediate  between  the 
two.  This  general  rule  may  then  be  laid  down.  That 
for  each  animal,  intellectual,  affectional,  moral  want  of 
Man,  there  is  a  supply  set  within  his  reach,  and  a  guide 
to  connect  the  two  ;  that  no  miracle  is  needed  to  supply 
the  want ;  but  satisfaction  is  given  soon  as  the  guide  is 
followed  and  the  law  kept,  which  instinct  or  the  under- 
standing reveals. 


CHAPTER    V. 

STATEMENT   OF  THE   ANALOGY    FEOM   THIS   RELATION. 

Now  it  was  said  before,  that  the  religious  was  the 
deepest,  highest,  strongest  element  in  Man,  and  since 
the  wants  of  the  lower  faculties  are  so  abundantly  pro- 
vided with  natural  means  of  satisfying  them,  the  Anal- 
ogy leads  us  irresistibly  to  conclude,  that  the  higher  fac- 
ulty would  not  be  neglected;  that  here  as  elsewhere  there 
must  be  a  natural  and  not  miraculous  supply  for  nat- 
ural wants  ;  a  natural  guide  to  conduct  from  one  to  the 
other,  and  natural  laws,  or  conditions,  to  be  observed, 
and  natural  satisfaction  to  be  obtained  in  this  way  ;  that 
as  God  was  no  step-father,  but  a  bountiful  parent  to 
the  lower  elements,  so  he  must  be  to  the  higher ;  that 
as  there  was  a  point  of  satisfaction  out  of  the  body, 
mind,  and  heart,  for  each  desire  in  it,  so  there  must  be 
a  point  of  satisfaction  out  of  the  soul,  for  each  desire  in 
the  soul.  Is  it  God's  way  to  take  care  of  oxen  and 
leave  men  uncared  for?  In  a  system  where  every  spot 
on  an  insect's  wing  is  rounded  as  diligently,  and  as 
carefully  finished  off  as  a  world,  are  we  to  suppose  the 
Soul  of  Man  is  left  without  natural  protection  ?  K 
there  is  a  law,  a  permanent  mode  of  divine  action, 

(179) 


180  SUPPLY   FOR   SPIRITUAL   WANTS. 

whereby  each  atom  of  dust  keeps  its   place  and  holds 
its    own,  surely  we    are    not    to    dream    the    Soul  of 
Man  is  left  with  no  law  for  its  religious  life  and  sat- 
isfaction. 

To  draw  the  parallels  still  closer.  By  the  religious 
consciousness  we  feel  the  want  of  some  assured  sup- 
port to  depend  on,  who  has  infinite  Power  to  sustain 
us,  infinite  Wisdom  to  provide  for  us,  infinite  Good- 
ness to  cherish  us  ;  as  we  must  know  the  will  of  Him 
on  whom  we  depend,  and  thus  determine  what  is 
religious  truth  and  religious  duty,  in  order  that  we 
may  do  that  duty,  receive  that  truth,  obey  that  will, 
and  thus  obtain  rest  for  the  soul,  and  the  highest 
spiritual  welfare,  by  knowing  and  fulfilling  its  condi- 
tions, so  Analogy  teaches  that  in  this,  as  in  the  other 
case,  there  must  be  a  supply  for  the  wants,  and  some 
plain,  regular,  and  not  miraculous  means,  accessible 
to  each  man,  whereby  he  can  get  a  knowledge  of 
this  Support,  discover  this  Will,  and  thus,  by  observ- 
ing the  proper  conditions,  obtain  the  highest  spiritual 
welfare. 

This  argument  for  a  direct  connection  between  Man 
and  God,  is  only  rebutted  in  one  of  these  two  ways  : 
Either,  first,  by  denying  that  Man  has  any  religious 
wants ;  or  secondly,  by  affirming  that  he  is  himself 
alone  a  supply  to  them,  without  need  of  reliance  on 
any  thing  independent  of  himself  The  last  is  contrary 
to  philosophy,  for,  theoretically  speaking,  by  nature, 
there  is  nothing  in  Man,  but  Man  himself,  his  tenden- 
cies and  powers  of  action  and  reception  ;  in  the  religious 
element  there  is  nothing  but  the  religious  element,  as, 
theoretically  speaking,  by  nature,  there  is  in  the  body 
nothing  but  the  body  ;  in  hunger  nothing  but  hunger. 
To  make   Man  dependent  on  nothing  but    Man  ;    the 


OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED.       ,  181 

religious  element  on  nothing  but  the  reUgious  element, 
and  therefore  sufficient  for  itself,  is  quite  as  absurd  as 
to  make  the  body  dependent  only  on  the  body;  the 
appetite  of  hunger  on  nothing  but  hunger,  sufficient  to 
satisfy  itself.  Besides,  our  consciousness,  and  above 
all  our  religious  consciousness,  is  that  of  dependence. 
The  soul  feels  its  direct  dependence  on  God,  as  much 
as  the  body  sees  its  own  direct  dependence  on  matter. 

If  the  one  statement  is  contrary  to  philosophy,  the 
other  is  contrary  to  fact.  We  feel  religious  wants  ; 
the  history  of  Man  is  a  perpetual  expression  of  these 
wants ;  an  effort  for  satisfaction.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  we  need  something  that  shall  bear  the  same  rela- 
tion to  the  religious  Element,  which  food  bears  to  the 
palate,  light  to  the  eye,  sound  to  the  ear,  beauty  to  the 
imagination,  truth  to  the  understanding,  friendship  to 
the  heart,  and  duty  to  conscience.  How  shall  we  pass 
from  the  want  to  its  satisfaction?  Now  the  force  of 
the  Analogy  is  this  —  it  leads  us  to  expect  such  a 
natural  satisfaction  for  spiritual  wants,  as  we  have  for 
the  humbler  wants.  The  very  wants  themselves  imply 
the  satisfaction  ;  soon  as  we  begin  to  act,  there  awakes 
by  nature,  a  Sentiment  of  God.  Reason  gives  us  a 
distinct  Idea  of  Him,  and  from  this  Idea  also  it  follows 
that  he  must  supply  these  wants. 

The  question  then  comes  as  to  the  fact:  Is  there, 
or  is  there  not,  a  regular  law,  that  is,  a  constant  mode 
of  operation,  by  which  the  religious  wants  are  supplied, 
as  by  a  regular  law  the  body's  wants  are  met  ?  Now 
animated  by  the  natural  trust,  or  faith,  which  is  the 
spontaneous  action  of  the  religious  Element,  we 
should  say  :  Yes,  it  must  be  so.  God  takes  care  of 
:he    sparrow's    body ;    can    he    neglect    Man's    Soul  ? 

16 


182  SUPPLY   FOR   SPIRITUAL   WANTS. 

Then  reasoning  again  from  the  general  analogy  of 
God's  providence,  as  before  shown,  and  still  more  from 
the  Idea  of  God,  as  above  laid  dow^n,  we  say  again  :  It 
must  be  so.  Man  must,  through  the  religious  Ele- 
ment, have  a  connection  with  God,  as  by  the  senses 
with  Matter.  He  is,  relative  to  us,  the  object  of  the 
soul,  as  much  as  matter  is  the  object  of  the  senses.  As 
God  has  an  influence  on  passive  and  unconscious  Mat- 
ter, so  he  must  have  on  active  and  conscious  Man.  As 
this  action  in  the  one  case  is  only  modified  by  the  con- 
ditions of  Matter,  so  will  it  be  in  the  other,  only  by  the 
conditions  of  Man.  As  no  obedient  animal  is  doomed 
to  wander  up  and  down,  seeking  rest,  but  finding  none ; 
so  no  obedient  man  can  be  left  hopeless,  forlorn,  with- 
out a  supply,  without  a  guide. 

Now  it  might  be  supposed  that  the  spontaneous 
presentiment  of  this  supply  for  our  spiritual  demands ; 
this  twofold  argument  from  the  Idea  of  God  and  the 
Analogy  of  his  action  in  general,  would  satisfy  both 
the  spontaneous  and  the  reflective  mind,  convincing 
them  of  Man's  general  capability  of  a  connection  with 
God,  of  receiving  truth,  in  a  regular  and  natural  way 
from  him,  by  revelation,  inspiration,  suggestion,  or  by 
what  other  name  we  may  call  the  joint  action  of  the 
divine  and  human  mind.  Such  indeed  is  the  belief  of 
nations  in  an  early  and  simple  state.  It  is  attested  by 
the  literature,  traditions,  and  monuments  of  aU  primitive 
people.  They  believed  that  God  held  converse  wdth 
Men.  He  spoke  in  the  voices  of  nature ;  in  signs  and 
omens ;  in  dreams  by  night ;  in  deep,  silent  thoughts 
by  day;  skill,  strength,  wisdom,  goodness,  were  referred 
to  Him.  The  highest  function  of  men  was  God's  Gift. 
He  made  the   Laws  of  Minos,  Moses,  Numa,  Rhada- 


DOUBTS   OF   THINKING   MEN.  183 

manthus;  be  inspires  the  Poet,  Artist,  Patriot;  works 
with  the  righteous  everywhere.  Had  Fetichism  no 
meaning  ?  Was  Polytheism  only  a  lie  with  no  truth  at 
the  bottom  ?  Prayers,  sacrifices,  fasts,  priesthoods,  show 
that  men  believed  in  intercourse  with  God.  Good, 
simple-hearted  men  and  women,  who  live  lives  of  piety, 
believe  it  now,  and  never  dream  it  is  a  great  philo- 
sophical truth,  which  lies  in  their  mind.  They  wonder 
anybody  should  doubt  it. 

But  yet  among  thinking  men,  who  have  thought  just 
enough  to  distrust  instinct,  but  not  enough  to  see  by 
the  understanding  the  object  which  instinct  discloses, 
especially  it  seems  among  thinking  Englishmen  and 
Americans,  a  general  doubt  prevails  on  this  point. 

The  material  world  is  before  our  eyes  ;  its  phenomena 
are  obvious  to  the  senses,  and  most  men  having  active 
senses  —  which  develop  before  the  understanding  — 
and  the  lower  faculties  of  intellect  also,  somewhat 
active,  get  pretty  clear  notions  about  these  phenomena, 
though  not  of  their  cause  and  philosophy.  But  as  the 
soul  is  rarely  so  active  as  the  senses;  as  the  whole 
spiritual  nature  is  not  often  so  well  developed  as  the 
sensual,  so  spiritual  phenomena  are  little  noticed  ;  very 
few  men  have  clear  notions  about  them.  Hence  to 
many  men  all  spiritual  and  religious  matters  are  vague. 
"  Perhaps  yes  and  perhaps  no,"  is  all  they  can  say. 

Then  again  the  matter  is  made  worse,  for  they  hear 
extravagant  claims  made  in  relation  to  spiritual  things 
and  intercourse  with  God.  One  man  says,  he  was 
healed  of  a  fever,  or  saved  from  drowning,  not  by  the 
medicine,  or  the  boatman,  but  by  the  direct  interposi- 
tion of  God  ;  another  will  have  it  that  he  has  direct  and 
miraculous  illuminations,  though  it  is  plain  he  is  still 
sitting   in    darkness.      This   bigot   would    destroy   all 


184  FAVORED    BY   THE   BIGOTS. 

human  knowledge  that  there  may  be  clean  paper  to 
receive  the  divine  word,  miraculously  written  thereon  ; 
that  fanatic  bids  men  trust  the  doctrine  which  is  re- 
puted of  miraculous  origin  and  even  at  variance  with 
human  faculties.  Both  the  bigot  and  the  fanatic  con- 
demn Science  as  the  "  Pride  of  Reason,"  and  talk 
boastingly  of  their  special  revelations,  their  new  light, 
the  signs  and  wonders  they  have  seen  or  heard  of  to 
attest  this  revelation.  The  sincere  man  of  good  sense 
is  disgusted  by  these  things,  and  asks  if  there  be  no 
Pride  of  Folly  as  well  as  Reason,  and  no  revelation  of 
nonsense  from  the  man's  own  brain,  which  is  mistaken 
as  an  eternal  truth  coming  winged  from  the  Godhead  ? 
He  rests,  therefore,  in  his  notions  of  mere  material 
things ;  will  see  nothing  which  he  cannot  see  through  ; 
believe  nothing  he  cannot  handle.  These  material 
notions  have  already  become  systematized ;  and  so 
far  as  there  is  any  philosophy  commonly  accredited 
amongst  us,  it  is  one  which  grows  mainly  out  of  this 
sensual  way  of  looking  at  things ;  a  philosophy  which 
logically  denies  the  possibility  of  inspiration,  or  inter- 
course with  God,  except  through  a  miracle  that  shall 
transcend  the  faculties  of  Man. 

Now  on  this  subject  of  inspiration  there  are  but  three 
views  possible.  Each  of  these  is  supported  by  no 
one  writer  exclusively  or  perfectly,  but  by  many  taken 
in  the  aggregate.  Let  us  examine  each  of  them  as  it 
appears  in  recent  times,  with  its  philosophy  and  logical 
consequences.  However,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
all  conclusions  which  follow  logically,  are  not  to  be 
charged  on  men  who  admit  the  premises. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   RATIONALISTIC   VIEW,    OR  NATURALISM. 

This  allows  that  the  original  powers  of  Nature,  as 
shown  in  the  inorganic,  the  vegetable,  and  the  animal 
world,  all  came  from  God  at  the  first ;  that  he  is  a  prin- 
ciple, either  material  or  spiritual,  separate  from  the 
world,  and  independent  thereof.  He  made  the  World, 
and  all  things,  including  Man,  and  stamped  on  them 
certain  laws,  which  they  are  too  keep.^  He  was  but 
transiently  present  and  active  in  Nature  at  creation  ;  is 
not  immanently  present  and  active  therein.  He  has 
now,  nothing  to  do  with  the  world  but  —  to  see  it  go. 
Here,  then,  is  God  on  the  one  side  ;  on  the  other,  Man 
and  Nature.  But  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between 
them,  over  which  there  passes,  neither  God  nor  Man. 

This  theory  teaches  that  Man,  in  addition  to  his 
organs  of  perception,  has  certain  intellectual  faculties 
by  which  he  can  reason  from  effect  to  cause ;  can 
discover  truth,  which  is  the   statement  of  a  fact ;  from 

^  There  is  another  form  of  Naturalism  which  denies  the  existence 
of  a  God  separate,  or  separable  from  the  universe.  Since  this  system 
would  annihilate  all  Religion,  it  may  be  called  irreligious  Naturalism  ; 
with  that  I  have  now  nothing  to  do.  Some  have  been  called  Ration- 
alists, who  deny  that  God  is  separate  from  the  world.  See  above, 
Book  I. 

16*  (185) 


186  METAPHYSICS    OF    NATURALISM. 

a  number  of  facts  in  science  can  discern  a  scientific 
law,  the  relation  of  thing  to  thing;  from  a  number  of 
facts  in  morals,  can  learn  the  relation  of  man  to  man, 
deduce  a  moral  law,  which  shall  teach  the  most  expe- 
dient and  profitable  way  of  managing  affairs.  Its 
statement  of  both  scientific  and  moral  facts  rests  solely 
on  experience,  and  never  goes  beyond  the  precedents. 
Still  further,  it  allows  that  men  can  find  out  there  is  a 
God,  by  reasoning  experimentally  from  observations  in 
the  material  world,  and  metaphysically  also,  from  the 
connection  of  notions  in  the  mind.  But  this  conclusion 
is  only  to  be  reached,  in  either  case,  by  a  process  that  is 
long,  complicated,  tortuous,  and  so  diflficult  that  but 
one  man  in  some  thousands  has  the  necessary  ex- 
perimental knowledge,  and  but  one  in  some  millions, 
the  metaphysical  subtlety  requisite  to  go  through  it, 
and  become  certain  that  there  is  a  God.  Its  notion 
of  God  is  this  —  a  Being  who  exists  as  the  Power, 
Mind,  and  Will  that  caused  the  universe.^ 

The  metaphysical  philosophy  of  this  system  may  be 
briefly  stated.  In  Man,  by  nature,  there  is  nothing  but 
man  ;  there  is  but  one  channel  by  which  knowledge 
can  come  into  man,  that  is  sensation ;  perception 
through  the  senses.  That  is  an  assumption,  nobody 
pretends  it  is  proved.  This  knowledge  is  modified  by 
reflection  —  the  mind's  process  of  ruminating  upon  the 
knowledge  which  sensation  affords.  At  any  given  time, 
therefore,  if  we  examine  what  is  in  Man,  we  find  noth- 
ing which  has  not  first  been  in  the  senses.  Now  the 
senses  converse  only  with  finite  phenomena.     Reflection 

^  Dr.  Dewey,  writing  in  tlie  Christian  Examiner,  says  the  proposi- 
tion that  there  is  a  God  "  is  not  a  certainty."  See  Examiner  foi 
Sept.  1845,  p.  197,  et  seq. 


ITS    SCIENCE,   MORALS,    GOD.  187 

—  what  can  it  get  out  of  these  ?  The  Absolute  ?  The 
premise  does  not  warrant  the  conclusion.  Something 
"  as  good  as  Infinite  ?  "  Let  us  see.  It  makes  a  scien- 
tific law  a  mere  generalization  from  observed  facts 
which  it  can  never  go  beyond.  Its  science,  therefore,  is 
in  the  rear  of  observation ;  we  do  not  know  thereby 
whether  the  next  stone  shall  fall  to  the  ground  or  from 
it.  All  it  can  say  of  the  universality  of  any  law  of 
science,  is  this,  "  So  far  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  so."  It 
cannot  pass  from  the  Particular  to  the  Universal.  It 
makes  a  moral  law  the  result  of  external  experience, 
merely  an  induction  from  moral  facts ;  not  the  affirma- 
tion of  Man's  moral  nature  declaring  the  eternal  rule  of 
Right.  It  learns  Morality  by  seeing  what  plan  succeeds 
best  in  the  long  run.  Its  Morality,  therefore,  is  Selfish- 
ness verified  by  experiment.  A  man  in  a  new  case,  for 
which  he  can  find  no  precedents,  knows  not  what  to  do. 
He  is  never  certain  he  is  right  till  he  gets  the  reward. 
Its  moral  law  at  present,  like  the  statute  law,  is  the 
slowly  elaborated  product  of  centuries  of  experience.  It 
pretends  to  find  out  God,  as  a  law  in  science,  solely,  by 
reasoning  from  effect  to  cause ;  from  a  plan  to  the  de- 
signer. Then  on  what  does  a  man's  belief  in  God 
depend?  On  man's  nature,  acting  spontaneously?  No; 
for  there  is  nothing  in  man,  but  man,  and  nothing 
comes  in  but  sensations,  which  do  not  directly  give  us 
God.  It  depends  on  reflection,  argument,  that  process 
of  reasoning  mentioned  before.  Now  admitting  that 
sensation  affords  sufficient  premise  for  the  conclusion, 
there  is  a  difficulty  in  the  way.  The  man  must  either 
depend  on  his  own  reasoning,  or  that  of  another.  In 
the  one  case  he  may  be  mistaken,  in  an  argument,  so 
long,  crooked,  and  difficult.  It  is  at  best  an  inference. 
The  "  Hypothesis  of  a  God,"  as  some  impiously  call  it 


188  ITS   PROOF   OF   A    GOD. 

—  may  thus  rest  on  no  better  argument  than  the  hy- 
pothesis of  Vortices,  or  Epicycles.  In  the  other  case,  if 
we  trust  another  man,  he  may  be  mistaken ;  still  worse, 
may  design  to  deceive  the  inquirer,  as,  we  are  told,  the 
Heathen  Sages  did.  Where,  then,  is  the  certain  con- 
viction of  any  God  at  all  ?  This  theory  allows  none. 
Its  "  proof  of  the  existence  of  God  "  is  a  proof  of  the 
possibility  of  a  God ;  perhaps  of  his  probability  ;  surely 
no  more. 

But  the  case  is  yet  worse.  In  any  argumentation 
there  must  be  no  more  expressed  in  the  conclusion  than 
is  logically  and  confessedly  imphed  in  the  premises. 
When  finite  phenomena  are  the  only  premises,  whence 
comes  the  Idea  of  Infinite  God  ?  It  denies  that  Man 
has  any  Idea  of  the  Absolute,  Infinite,  Perfect.  Instead 
of  this,  it  allows  only  an  accumulative  notion,  formed 
from  a  series  of  conceptions  of  what  is  finite  and  imper- 
fect. The  little  we  can  know  of  God  came  from  rea- 
soning about  objects  of  sense.  Its  notion  of  God  is  de- 
duced purely  from  empirical  observation ;  what  notion 
of  a  God  can  rest  legitimately  on  that  basis  ?  Nature 
is  finite.  To  infer  an  infinite  Author  is  false  logic. 
We  see  but  in  part,  and  have  not  grasped  up  this  sum 
of  things,  nor  seen  how  seeming  evil  consists  with  real 
good,  nor  accounted  for  the  great  amount  of  misery,  ap- 
parently unliquidated,  in  the  world ;  therefore  Nature  is 
imperfect  to  men's  eyes.  Why  infer  a  perfect  Author 
from  an  imperfect  work?  Injustice  and  cruelty  are 
allowed  in  the  world.  How  then  can  its  Maker  be  re- 
lied on  as  just  and  merciful  ?  Let  there  be  nothing  in 
the  conclusion  which  is  not  in  the  premises. 

This  theory  gives  us  only  a  finite  and  imperfect  God, 
which  is  no  God  at  all.  He  cannot  be  trusted  out  of 
sight ;  for  its  faith  is  only  an  inference  from  what  is 


ITS    GOD    ONLY   FINITE.  189 

seen.  Instead  of  a  religious  sentiment  in  man,  which 
craves  all  the  perfections  of  the  Godhead ;  reaches  out 
after  the  Infinite  "  first  Good,  first  Perfect,  and  first 
Fair,"  it  gives  us  only  a  tendency  to  reverence  or  fear 
what  is  superior  to  ourselves,  and  above  our  comprehen- 
sion ;  a  tendency  which  the  Bat  and  the  Owl  have  in 
common  with  Socrates  and  Fenelon.  It  makes  a  man 
the  slave  of  his  organization.  Free-will  is  not  possible. 
His  highest  aim  is  self-preservation ;  his  greatest  evil 
death.  It  denies  the  immortality  of  Man,  and  foolishly 
asks  "  proofs  "  of  the  fact  —  meaning  proofs  palpable  to 
the  senses.  Its  finite  God  is  not  to  be  trusted,  except 
under  his  bond  and  covenant  to  give  us  what  we 
ask  for. 

It  makes  no  difference  between  Good  and  Evil ;  Ex- 
pedient and  Inexpedient  are  the  better  words.  These 
are  to  be  learned  only  by  long  study  and  much  cunning. 
All  men  have  not  the  requisite  skill  to  find  out  moral 
and  religious  doctrines,  and  no  means  of  proving  either 
in  their  own  heart ;  therefore  they  must  take  the  word 
of  their  appointed  teachers  and  philosophers,  who  "  have 
investigated  the  matter ;  "  found  there  is  "  an  expedient 
way  "  for  men  to  follow,  and  a  "  God  "  to  punish  them 
if  they  do  not  follow  it.  In  moral  and  religious  matters 
the  mass  of  men  must  rely  on  the  authority  of  their 
teachers.  Millions  of  men,  who  never  made  an  astro- 
nomical observation,  believe  the  distance  between  the 
Earth  and  the  Sun  is  what  Newton  or  Laplace  declares 
it  to  be.  Why  should  not  men  take  moral  and  religious 
doctrines  on  the  same  evidence  ?  It  is  true,  astrono- 
mers have  differed  a  little  —  some  making  the  Earth  the 
centre,  some  the  Sun  —  and  divines  still  more.  But 
men  must  learn  the  moral  law  as  the  statute  law.  The 
State  is  above  each  man's  private   notions  about  good 


190  ITS   MORALS    AND    RELIGION. 

and  evil,  and  controls  these,  as  well  as  their  passions. 
Man  must  act  always  from  mean  and  selfish  views, 
never  from  Love  of  the  Good,  the  Beautiful,  the  True. 

This  system  would  have  religious  forms,  and  cere- 
monies to  take  up  the  mind  of  the  people ;  moral  pre- 
cepts, and  religious  creeds,  "  published  by  authority," 
to  keep  men  from  unprofitable  crimes ;  an  established 
Church,  like  the  Jail  and  the  Gallows,  a  piece  of  state- 
machinery.  It  is  logical  in  this,  for  it  fears  that,  with- 
out such  a  provision,  the  sensual  nature  would  overlay 
the  intellectual ;  the  few  religious  ideas  common  men 
could  get,  would  be  so  shadowy  and  uncertain,  and 
men  be  so  blinded  by  Prejudice,  Superstition,  and 
Fancy,  or  so  far  misled  by  Passion  and  ignorant  Self- 
ishness, that  nothing  but  want  and  anarchy  would 
ensue.  It  tells  men  to  pray.  None  can  escape  the 
conviction  that  prayer,  vocal  or  silent,  put  up  as  a  re- 
quest, or  felt  as  a  sense  of  supplication,  is  natural  as 
hunger  and  thirst,  or  tears  and  smiles.  Even  a  self- 
styled  Atheist^  talks  of  the  important  physiological 
functions  of  prayer.  This  theory  makes  prayer  a  So- 
liloquy of  the  man ;  a  thinking  with  the  upper  part  of 
the  head  ;  a  sort  of  moral  gymnastics.  Thereby  we 
get  nothing  from  God.  He  is  the  other  side  of  the 
world.  "  He  is  a  journeying,  or  pursuing,  or  peradven- 
ture  he  sleepeth."  Prayer  is  useful  to  the  worshipper  as 
the  poet's  frenzy,  when  he  apostrophizes  a  Mountain, 
or  the  Moon,  and  works  himself  into  a  rapture,  but  gets 
nothing  from  the  Mountain  or  the  Moon,  except  what 
he  carried  out. 

In  a  word,  this  theory  reduces   the  Idea  of  God  to 
that  of  an  abstract  Cause,  and  excludes  this  cause  both 

» M.  Comte. 


ITS   IDEA   OP   GOD.  191 

from  Man  and  the  World.  It  has  only  a  finite  God, 
which  is  no  God  at  all,  for  the  two  terms  cancel  each 
other.  It  has  only  a  selfish  Morality,  which  is  no  Mo- 
rality at  all,  for  the  same  reason.  It  reduces  the  Soul 
to  the  aggregate  functions  of  the  flesh  ;  Providence  to 
a  law  of  matter ;  Infinity  to  a  dream ;  Religion  to 
priestcraft ;  Prayer  to  an  apostrophe  ;  Morality  to  mak- 
ing a  good  bargain  ;  Conscience  to  cunning.  It  denies 
the  possibility  of  any  connection  between  God  and 
Man.  Revelation  and  Inspiration  it  regards  as  figures 
of  speech,  by  which  we  refer  to  an  agency  purely  ideal 
what  was  the  result  of  the  Senses  and  Matter  acting 
thereon.  Men  calling  themselves  inspired,  speaking  in 
the  name  of  God,  were  deceivers,  or  deceived.  Proph- 
ets, the  religious  Geniuses  of  the  world,  mistook 
their  fancies  for  revelations ;  embraced  a  cloud  instead 
of  a  Goddess,  and  produced  only  misshapen  dreams. 
Judged  by  this  system,  Jesus  of  Nazereth  was  a  pure- 
minded  fanatic,  who  knew  no  more  about  God  than 
Peter  Bayle  and  Pomponatius,  but  yet  did  the  world 
service,  by  teaching  the  result  of  his  own  or  others'  ex- 
perience, as  revelations  from  God  accompanied  with 
the  promise  of  another  life,  which  is  reckoned  a  pleas- 
ant delusion,  useful  to  keep  men  out  of  crime,  a  clever 
auxiliary  of  the  powers  that  be. 

This  System  has  perhaps  never  been  held  in  all  its 
parts,  by  any  one  man,^  but  each  portion  has  often  been 

^  It  13  instructive  to  see  the  influence  of  this  form  of  philosophy  in 
the  various  departments  of  inquiry,  as  shown  in  the  writino-s  of 
Bacon,  Hobbes,  Locke,  Collins,  Mandeville,  Hartley,  Hume,  Priestley, 
Paley,  Horne-Tooke,  Condillac,  Helvetius,  Darwin,  Bentham,  etc. 
But  this  philosophy  could  never  fully  satisfy  the  English  mind.  So 
there  were  such  men  as  Cudworth,  More,  Cumberland,  Edwards, 
Wollaston,  Clarke,  Butler,  Berkely,  Harris,  Price,  and  more  recently, 


192  REPRESENTATIVE   OE  NATURALISM. 

defended,  and  all  its  parts  go  together  and  come  un- 
avoidably from  that  notion,  that  there  is  nothing 
in  man  which  was  not  first  in  the  senses.^  The 
best  representatives  of  this  school  were,  it  may 
be,  the  French  Materialists  of  the  last  century, 
and  some  of  the  Enghsh  Deists.  The  latter  term 
is  applied  to  men  of  the  most  various  character 
and  ways  of  thinking.  Some  of  them  were  most  ex- 
cellent men  in  all  respects ;  men  who  did  mankind 
great  service  by  exposing  the  fanaticism  of  the  Super- 
stitious, and  by  showing  the  absurdities  embraced  by 
many  of  the  Christians.  Some  of  them  were  much 
more  religious  and  heavenly-minded  than  their  oppo- 
nents, and  had  a  theology  much  more  Christian,  which 
called  Goodness  by  its  proper  name,  and  worshipped 
God  in  lowliness  of  heart,  and  a  divine  life.  But  the 
spirit  of  this  system  takes  different  forms  in  different 
men.  It  appears  in  the  cold  morality  and  repulsive 
forms  of  Religion  of  Dr.  Priestley,  who  was  yet  one  of 
the  best  of  men ;  in  the  skepticism  of  Hume  and  his 
followers,  which  has  been  a  useful  medicine  to  the 
Church  ;  in  the  selfish  system  of  Paley,  far  more  dan- 
gerous than  the  doubts  of  Hume  or  the  scoffs  of  Gibbon 
and  Voltaire ;  in  the  coarse,  vulgar  materialism  of 
Hobbes,  who  may  be  taken  as  one  of  the  best  represent- 
atives of  the  system. 

It  is  obvious  enough,  that  this  system  of  Naturalism 
is  the  Philosophy  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the 
popular  theology  in  New  England  ;  that  it  is  very  little 
understood  by  the  men,  out  of  pulpits  and  in   pulpits, 

Reid,  Stewart,  Brown,   Coleridge,  and  Carlyle,  not  to  mention  the 
more  mystical  men  like  Fox  and  Penn,  with  their  followers. 

^  See  the  judicious  observations  of  Shaftesbury,  eighth  Letter  to  a 
Student 


ITS    NEGATIVE   MERIT.  193 

who  adhere  to  it ;  who,  while  they  hold  fast  to  the 
theory  of  the  worst  of  the  English  Deists  —  though  of 
only  the  worst;  while  they  deny  the  immanence  of  God 
in  Matter  and  Man,  and  therefore  take  away  the  possi- 
bility of  natural  inspiration,  and  cling  to  that  system 
of  philosophy  which  justifies  the  Doubt  of  Hume, 
the  Selfishness  of  Paley,  the  coarse  Materialism  of 
Hobbes, — -are  yet  ashamed  of  their  descent,  and  seek  to 
point  out  others  of  a  quite  different  spiritual  complex- 
ion, as  the  lineal  descendants  of  that  ancient  stock. 

This  system  has  one  negative  merit.  It  can,  as  such, 
never  lead  to  fanaticism.  Those  sects,  or  individuals, 
who  approach  most  nearly  to  pure  Natui'alism,  have 
never  been  accused,  in  religious  matters,  of  going  too 
fast  or  too  far.  But  it  has  a  positive  excellence.  It 
lays  great  stress  on  the  human  mind,  and  cultivates  the 
understanding  to  the  last  degree.  However,  its  Phi- 
losophy, its  Theology,  its  Worship,  are  of  the  senses, 
and  the  senses  alone,^ 


^  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  refer  particularly  to  the  authors 
representing  this  system.  I  have  rather  taken  pains  to  express  their 
doctrine  in  my  own  words,  lest  individuals  should  be  thought  respon- 
sible for  the  sins  of  the  system.  One  may  read  many  works  of  di- 
vinity, and  see  that  this  philosophy  lay  unconsciously  in  the  writer's 
mind,  I  do  not  mean  to  insinuate,  that  many  persons  fully  and  know- 
ingly believe  this  doctrine,  but  that  they  are  yet  governed  by  it,  under 
the  modification  treated  of  in  the  next  chapter.  Locke  has  some- 
times been  charged  with  follies  of  this  character,  but  unjustly,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  for  though  the  fundamental  principles  of  his  philosophy, 
and  many  passages  in  his  works,  do  certainly  look  that  way,  othei-s 
are  of  a  quite  spiritual  tendency.  See  King's  Life  of  Locke,  Vol.  I. 
p.  366,  etseq.,  and  his  theological  writings,  passim. 

17 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   ANTI-RATIONALISTIC    VIEW,    OR   SUPERNATURALISM. 

This  system  differs  in  many  respects  from  the  other ; 
but  its  philosophy  is  at.  bottom  the  same.  It  denies 
that  by  natural  action  there  can  be  any  thing  in  Man 
which  was  not  first  in  the  senses  ;  whatever  transcends 
the  senses  can  come  to  him  only  by  a  Miracle.  And 
the  Miracle  is  attended  with  phenomena  obvious  to  the 
senses.  To  develop  the  natural  side  of  the  theory  it 
sets  God  on  the  one  side  and  man  on  the  other.  How- 
ever it  admits  the  immanence  of  God  in  Matter,  and 
talks  very  little  about  the  laws  of  Matter,  which  it 
thinks  require  revision,  amendment,  and  even  repeal,  as 
if  the  nature  of  things  changed,  or  God  gi-ew  wiser  by 
experiment.  It  does  not  see  that  if  God  is  always  the 
same,  and  immanent  in  Nature,  the  laws  of  Nature  can 
neither  change  nor  be  changed.^  It  limits  the  power 
of  Man  still  further  than  the  former  theory.      It  denies 

^  Leibnitz  in  a  letter  to  the  Princess  of  Wales,  0pp.  phil.  ed.  Erd- 
mann;  Beriin,  1840,  p.  746-7,  amuses  himself  with  ridiculing  this 
view  which  he  ascribes  to  Newton  and  his  followers,  "  according  to 
them,"  says  he,  "  God  must  wind  up  his  watch  from  time  to  time  or  it 
would  stop  outright.  He  was  not  far-sighted  enough  to  maike  a  per- 
petual motion." 
[194] 


ABSURDITY  OF  SUPERNATURALISM.        195 

that  he  can,  of  himself,  discover  the  existence  of  God ; 
or  find  out  that  it  is  better  to  love  his  brother  than  to 
hate  him,  to  subject  the  Passions  to  Reason,  Desire  to 
Duty,  rather  than  to  subject  Reason  to  Passion,  Duty 
to  Desire.^  Man  can  find  out  all  that  is  needed  for  his 
animal  and  intellectual  welfare,  with  no  miracle ;  but 
can  learn  nothing  that  is  needed  for  his  moral  and  re- 
ligious welfare.  He  can  invent  the  steam  engine,  and 
calculate  the  orbit  of  Halley's  comet ;  but  cannot  tell 
Good  from  Evil,  nor  determine  that  there  is  a  God. 
The  Unnecessary  is  given  him  ;  the  Indispensable  he 
cannot  get  by  nature.  Man,  therefore,  is  the  veriest 
wretch  in  creation.  His  mind  forces  him  to  inquire  on 
religious  matters,  but  brings  him  into  doubt,  and  leaves 
him  in  the  very  slough  of  Despond.  He  goes  up  and 
down  sorrowing,  seeking  rest,  but  finding  none.  Nay  ; 
it  goes  further  still,  and  declares  that,  by  nature,  all 
men's  actions  are  sin,  hateful  to  God. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  teaches  that  God  works  a  mira- 
cle from  time  to  time,  and  makes  to  men  a  positive  rev- 
elation of  moral  and  religious  truth,  which  they  could 
not  otherwise  gain.  Its  history  of  revelations  is  this  : 
God  revealed  his  own  existence  in  a  visible  form  to  the 
first  man  ;  taught  him  religious  and   moral  duties   by 

^  Some  Supernaturalists  admit  that  Man  by  nature  can  find  out  the 
most  important  religious  truths,  in  the  way  set  down  before,  and  some 
admit  a  moral  sense  in  man.  Others  deny  both.  A  recent  writer 
denies  that  he  can  find  by  the  light  of  Nature  any  theological 
TRUTH.  Natural  theology  is  not  possible.  See  Irons,  On  the  whole 
Doctrine  of  Final  Causes ;  Lond.  1836,  p.  34,  129,  and  passim.  His  in- 
troductory chapter  on  modern  Deism  is  very  curious.  He  has  some 
excellent  remarks,  for  there  are  two  kingdoms  of  philosophy  in  him, 
but  wishes  to  ad- ance  what  he  calls  revealed  relio-ion,  at  the  ex- 
pense  of  the  foundation  of  all  Religion.  The  Ottoman  King  never 
thinks  himself  secure  on  the  throne  till  he  has  slain  all  his  brothers. 


196  REVELATION    BY   MEDIATORS. 

words  orally  spoken.  The  first  man  communicated  this 
knowledge  to  his  descendants,  from  whom  the  tradition 
of  the  fact  has  spread  over  all  the  world.  Men  know  there 
is  a  God,  and  a  distinction  between  right  and  wrong, 
only  by  hearsay,  as  they  know  there  was  a  Flood  in  the 
time  of  Noah,  or  Deucalion.  The  first  man  sinned,  and 
fell  from  the  state  of  frequent  communion  with  God. 
Revelations  have  since  become  rare ;  exceptions  in  the 
history  of  men.  However,  as  Man  having  no  connec- 
tion with  the  Infinite  must  soon  perish,  God  continued 
to  make  miraculous  revelations  to  one  single  people. 
To  them  he  gave  laws,  religious  and  civil ;  made  pre- 
dictions, and  accompanied  each  revelation  by  some 
miraculous  sign,  for  without  it  none  could  distinguish 
the  truth  from  a  lie.  Other  nations  received  reflections 
of  this  light,  which  was  directly  imparted  to  the  fa- 
vored people.  At  length  he  made  a  revelation  of  all 
religious  and  moral  truth,  by  means  of  his  Son,  a 
divine  and  miraculous  being,  both  God  and  Man,  and 
confirmed  the  tidings  by  miracles  the  most  surprising. 
As  this  revelation  is  to  last  forever,  it  has  been  recorded 
miraculously,  and  preserved  for  all  coming  time.  The 
persons  who  received  direct  communication  miraculous- 
ly from  God,  are  of  course  mediators  between  Him  and 
the  human  race. 

Now  to  live  as  religious  men,  we  must  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  religious  truth  ;  for  this  we  must  depend  alone 
on  these  mediators.  Without  them  we  have  no  access 
to  God.  They  have  established  a  new  relation  between 
Man  and  God.  But  they  are  mortal,  and  have  de- 
ceased. However,  their  sayings  are  recorded  by  mirac- 
ulous aid.  A  knowledge  of  God's  will,  of  Morality 
and  Religion,  therefore,  is  only  to  be  got  at,  by  study- 
ing  the  documents  which    contain   a  record   of   theij 


THE   SAD    CONDITION    OF   MAN.  197 

words  and  works,  for  the  Word  of  God  has  become 
the  letter  of  Scripture.  We  can  know  nothing  of  God, 
Religion,  or  Morals  at  first  hand.  God  was  but  tran- 
siently present  in<«rsmall  number  of  the  race,  and  has 
now  left  it  altos^ether. 

This  theory  forgets  that  a  verbal  revelation  can  never 
communicate  a  simple  idea,  like  that  of  God,  Justice, 
Love,  Religion,  more  than  a  word  can  give  a  deaf  man 
an  idea  of  sound.  It  makes  inspiration  a  very  rare 
miracle,  confined  to  one  nation,  and  to  some  scores  of 
men  in  that  nation,  who  stand  between  us  and  God. 
We  cannot  pray  in  our  own  name,  but  in  that  of  the 
mediator,  who  hears  the  prayer,  and  makes  intercession 
for  us.  It  exalts  certain  miraculous  persons,  but  de- 
grades Man.  In  prophets  and  saints,  in  Moses  and 
Jesus,  it  does  not  see  the  possibility  of  the  race  made 
real,  but  only  the  miraculous  work  of  God.  Our  duty 
is  not  to  inquire  into  the  truth  of  their  word.  Reason 
is  no  judge  of  that.  We  must  put  faith  in  all  which 
all  of  them  tell  us,  though  they  contradict  each  other 
never  so  often.  Thus  it  makes  an  antithesis  between 
Faith  and  Knowledge,  Reason  and  Revelation.  It  de- 
nies that  common  men,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  can 
get  at  Truth,  and  God,  as  Paul  and  John  in  the  first 
century.  It  sacrifices  Reason,  Conscience,  and  Love  to 
the  words  of  the  miraculous  men,  and  thus  makes  its 
mediator  a  tyrant,  who  rules  over  the  soul  by  external 
authority,  restricting  Reason,  Conscience,  and  Love ; 
not  a  brother,  who  acts  in  the  soul,  by  waking  its  dor- 
mant powers,  disclosing  truth,  and  leading  others  by  a 
divine  life,  to  God,  the  Source  of  Light.  It  says  the 
words  of  Jesus  are  true  because  he  spoke  them  ;  not 
that  he  spoke  them  because  true.  It  relies  entirely  on 
past  times ;  does  not  give  us  the  Absolute  Religion,  as 

17* 


198  FOUNDATION    OP   SUPERNATURALISM. 

it  exists  in  Man's  nature,  and  the  Ideas  of  the  A  - 
mighty,  only  a  historical  mode  of  worship,  as  lived 
out  here  or  there.  It  says  the  canon  of  Revelation  is 
closed  ;  God  will  no  longer  act  on  men  as  heretofore. 
We  have  come  at  the  end  of  the  feast;  are  born  in  the 
latter  days  and  dotage  of  mankind,  and  can  only  get 
light,  by  raking  amid  the  ashes  of  the  past,  and  blowing 
its  brands,- now  almost  extinct.  It  denies  that  God  is 
present  and  active  in  all  spirit  as  in  all  space  —  thus  it 
denies  that  he  is  Infinite.  In  the  miraculous  documents 
it  gives  us  an  objective  standard,  "  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  religious  faith  and  practice."  These  mediators 
are  greater  than  the  soul ;  the  Bible  the  master  of  Rea- 
son, Conscience,  and  the  Religious  Sentiment.  They 
stand  in  the  place  of  God. 

Men  ask  of  this  system  :  How  do  you  know  there  is 
in  Man  nothing  but  the  product  of  sensation,  or  mirac- 
ulous tradition  ;  that  he  cannot  approach  God  except 
by  miracle  ;  that  these  mediators  received  truth  miracu- 
lously ;  taught  all  truth;  nothing  but- the  truth;  that 
you  have  their  words,  pure  and  unmixed  in  your  Scrip- 
tures ;  that  God  has  no  further  revelation  to  make  ? 
The  answer  is :  —  we  find  it  convenient  to  assume 
all  this,  and  accordingly  have  banished  Reason  from  the 
premises,  for  she  asked  troublesome  questions.  We 
condescend  to  no  proof  of  the  facts.  You  must  take 
our  word  for  that.  Thus  the  main  doctrines  of  the 
theory  rest  on  assumptions ;  on  no-facts. 

This  system  represents  the  despair  of  Man  groping 
after  God.  The  religious  Element  acts,  but  is  crip- 
pled by  a  philosophy  poor  and  sensual.  Is  Man  noth- 
ing but  a  combination  of  five  senses,  and  a  thinking 
machine  to  grind  up  and  bolter  sensations,  and  learn  of 
God  only  by  hearsay  ?     The  God  of  Supernaturalisra 


THE   TRUTH   IN    SUPERNATURALISM.  199 

is  a  God  afar  off;  its  Religion  worn-out  and  second- 
hand. We  cannot  meet  God  face  to  face.  In  one 
respect  it  is  worse  than  Naturalism ;  that  sets  great 
value  on  the  faculties  of  Man,  which  this  depreciates 
and  profanes.  But  all  systems  rest  on  a  truth,  or  they 
could  not  be  ;  this  on  a  great  truth,  or  it  could  not  pre- 
vail widely.  It  admits  a  qualified  immanence  of  God 
in  Nature,  and  declares,  also,  that  mankind  is  depend- 
ent on  Him,  for  religious  and  moral  truth  as  for  all 
things  else ;  has  a  connection  with  God  who  really 
guides,  educates,  and  blesses  the  race,  for  he  is  tran- 
siently present  therein.  The  doctrine  of  miraculous 
events,  births,  persons,  deaths,  and  the  like,  this  is  the 
veil  of  Poetry  drawn  over  the  face  of  Fact.  It  has  a 
truth  not  admitted  by  Naturalism.  As  only  a  few 
"  thinking- "  men  even  in  fancy  can  be  satisfied  without 
a  connection  with  God,  so  Naturalism  is  always  con- 
fined to  a  few  reflective  and  cultivated  persons ;  while 
the  mass  of  men  believe  in  the  supernatural  theory,  at 
least,  in  the  truth  it  covers  up.  Its  truth  is  of  great 
moment.  Its  vice  is  to  make  God  transiently  active  in 
Man,  not  immanent  in  him  ;  restrict  the  divine  presence 
and  action  to  times,  places,  and  persons.  It  overlooks 
the  fact  that  if  religious  truth  be  necessary  for  all,  then 
it  must  either  have  been  provided  for  and  put  in  the 
reach  of  all,  or  else  there  is  a  fault  in  the  divine  plan. 
Then  again,  if  God  gives  a  natural  supply  for  the  lower 
wants,  it  is  probable,  to  say  the  least,  he  will  not  neg- 
lect the  higher.  Now  for  the  religious  consciousness  of 
Man,  a  knowledge  of  two  great  truths  is  indispensable : 
namely,  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the  Infinite 
God,  and  of  the  duty  we  owe  to  Him,  for  a  knowledge  of 
these  two  is  implied  in  all  religious  teaching  and  life. 
Now  one  of  two  things  must  be  admitted,  and  a  third 


200  THE   LIGHT   OF  NATURE. 

is  not  possible  :  either  Man  can  discover  these  two  things 
by  the  light  of  Nature,  or  he  cannot.  If  the  latter  be  the 
case,  then  is  he  the  most  hopeless  of  all  beings.  Revela- 
tion of  these  truths  is  confined  to  a  few ;  it  is  indispen- 
sably necessary  to  all.  Accordingly  the  first  hypothesis 
is  generally  admitted  by  the  supernaturalists,  in  New 
England  —  though  in  spite  of  their  philosophy  —  that 
these  two  things  can  be  discovered  by  the  light  of  Na- 
ture. Then  if  the  two  main  points,  the  premises  which 
involve  the  whole  of  Morals  and  Religion,  lie  within  the 
reach  of  Man's  natural  powers,  how  is  a  miracle,  or  the 
tradition  of  a  miracle,  necessary  to  reveal  the  minor  doc- 
trines involved  in  the  universal  truth  ?  Does  not  the  fac- 
ulty to  discern  the  greater  include  the  faculty  to  discern 
the  less?  What  covers  an  acre  will  cover  a  yard. 
Where  then  is  the  use  of  the  miraculous  interposition  ? 
Neither  Natm'alism  nor  Supernaturalism  legitimates 
the  fact  of  Man's  reli  odious  consciousness.  Both  fail  of 
satisfying  the  natural  religious  wants  of  the  race.  Each 
has  merits  and  vices  of  its  own.  Neither  gives  for  the 
Soul's  wants  a  supply  analogous  to  that  so  bountifully 
provided  for  the  wants  of  the  Body,  or  the  Mind. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  NATURAL-RELIGIOUS   VIEW,    OR   SPIRITUALISM. 

This  theory  teaches  that  there  is  a  natural  supply  for 
spiritual  as  well  as  for  corporeal  wants ;  that  there  is  a 
connection  between  God  and  the  Soul,  as  between  light 
and  the  eye,  sound  and  the  ear,  food  and  the  palate, 
truth  and  the  intellect,  beauty  and  the  imagination ;  that 
as  we  follow  an  instinctive  tendency,  obey  the  body's 
law,  get  a  natural  supply  for  its  wants,  attain  health 
and  strength,  the  body's  welfare ;  as  we  keep  the  law  of 
the  mind,  and  get  a  supply  for  its  wants,  attain  wisdom 
and  skill,  the  mind's  welfare,  —  so  if,  following  another 
instinctive  tendency,  we  keep  the  law  of  the  moral  and 
religious  faculties,  we  get  a  supply  for  their  wants,  moral 
and  religious  truth,  obtain  peace  of  conscience  and  rest 
for  the  soul,  the  highest  moral  and  religious  welfare.  It 
teaches  that  the  World  is  not  nearer  to  our  bodies  than 
God  to  the  soul ;  "  for  in  him  we  live  and  move,  and 
have  our  being."  As  we  have  bodily  senses  to  lay  hold 
on  Matter  and  supply  bodily  wants,  through  which  we 
obtain,  naturally,  all  needed  material  things ;  so  we 
have  spiritual  faculties  to  lay  hold  on  God,  and  supply 
spiritual  wants;  through  them  we  obtain  all  needed 
spiritual  things.  As  we  observe  the  conditions  of  the 
Body,  we  have  Nature  on  our  side ;  as  we  observe  the 

(201) 


202  INSPIRATIOX   UNIVERSAL. 

Law  of  the  Soul  we  have  God  on  our  side.  He  im- 
parts truth  to  all  men  who  observe  these  conditions  ;  we 
have  direct  access  to  Him,  through  Reason,  Conscience, 
and  the  Religious  Faculty,  just  as  we  have  direct  access 
to  Nature,  through  the  eye,  the  ear,  or  the  hand. 
Through  these  channels,  and  by  means  of  a  law,  certain, 
regular,  and  universal  as  gravitation,  God  inspires  men, 
makes  revelation  of  truth,  for  is  not  truth  as  much  a 
phenomenon  of  God,  as  motion  of  Matter?  Therefore 
if  God  be  omnipresent  and  omniactive,  this  inspiration 
is  no  miracle,  but  a  regular  mode  of  God's  action  on 
conscious  Spirit,  as  gravitation  on  unconscious  Matter. 
It  is  not  a  rare  condescension  of  God,  but  a  universal 
.uplifting  of  Man.  To  obtain  a  knowledge  of  duty,  a 
man  is  not  sent  away,  outside  of  himself  to  ancient  doc- 
uments, for  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice;  the 
Word,  is  very  nigh  him,  even  in  his  heart,  and  by  this 
"Word  he  is  to  try  all  documents  whatever.  Inspiration, 
like  God's  omnipresence,  is  not  limited  to  the  few  writ- 
ers claimed  by  the  Jews,  Christians,  or  Mahometans, 
but  is  coextensive  with  the  race.  As  God  fills  all  Space, 
so  all  Spirit ;  as  he  influences  and  constrains  uncon- 
scious and  necessitated  Matter,  so  he  inspires  and  helps 
free  and  conscious  Man. 

This  theory  does  not  make  God  limited,  partial,  or 
capricious.  It  exalts  Man.  While  it  honors  the  ex- 
cellence of  a  religious  genius,  of  a  Moses  or  a  Jesus,  it 
does  not  pronounce  their  character  monstrous,  as  the 
supernatural,  nor  fanatical,  as  the  rationaUstic  theory; 
but  natural,  human,  and  beautiful,  reveahng  the  pos- 
sibility of  mankind.  Prayer,  whether  voluntative  or 
spontaneous,  a  word  or  a  feeling,  felt  in  gratitude 
or  penitence,  or  joy,  or  resignation,  —  is  not  a  soliloquy 
of  the  man,  not  a  physiological  function,  nor  an  address 


MEDIATOR  NOT  NEEDED.  203 

to  a  deceased  man  ;  but  a  sally  into  the  infinite  spiritual 
world,  whence  we  bring  back  light  and  truth.  There 
are  windows  towards  God,  as  towards  the  World. 
There  is  no  intercessor,  angel,  mediator  between  Man 
and  God  ;  for  Man  can  speak  and  God  hear,  each  for 
himself.  He  requires  no  advocate  to  plead  for  men, 
who  need  not  pray  by  attorney.  Each  man  stands 
close  to  the  omnipresent  God  ;  may  feel  his  beautiful 
presence,  and  have  familiar  access  to  the  All-Father; 
get  truth  at  first  hand  from  its  Author.  Wisdom, 
Righteousness,  and  Love,  are  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
Soul  of  Man ;  wherever  these  are,  and  just  in  propor- 
tion to  their  power,  there  is  inspiration  from  God. 
Thus  God  is  not  the  author  of  confusion,  but  Con- 
cord; Faith,  and  Knowledge,  and  Revelation,  and 
Reason  tell  the  same  tale,  and  so  legitimate  and  con- 
firm one  another.^ 

God's  action  on  Matter  and  on  Man  is  perhaps  the 
same  thing  to  Him,  though  it  appear  differently  modi- 
fied to  us.  But  it  is  plain  from  the  nature  of  things, 
that  there  can  be  but  one  kind  of  Inspiration,  as  of 
Truth,  Faith,  or  Love :  it  is  the  direct  and  intuitive 
perception  of  some  truth,  either  of  thought  or  of  senti- 
ment. There  can  be  but  one  mode  of  Inspiration : 
it  is  the  action  of  the  Highest  within  the  soul,  the 
divine  presence  imparting  light ;  this  presence  as  Truth, 
Justice,  Holiness,  Love,  infusing  itself  into  the  soul, 
giving  it  new  life  ;  the  breathing  in  of  the  Deity  ;  the 
in-come  of  God  to  the  Soul,  in  the  form  of  Truth 
through  the  Reason,  of  Right  through  the  Conscience, 

^  See  Jonathan  Edwards'  view  of  Inspiration,  in  his  sermon  on  A 
divine  Light  imparted  to  the  Soul,  etc.  Works,  ed.  Lond.  1840. 
Vol.  II.  p.  12,  et  seq.,  and  Vol.  I.  p.  ccbcix.     No.  [20]. 


204  DEGREES    OF   INSPIRATION. 

of  Love  and  Faith  through  the  Affections  and  Religious 
Element.  Is  Inspiration  confined  to  theological  mat- 
ters alone  ?  Most  surely  not.  Is  Newton  less  inspired 
than  Simon  Peter  ?  ^ 

Now  if  the  above  views  be  true,  there  seems  no 
ground  for  supposing,  without  historical  proof,  there 
are  different  kinds  or  modes  of  inspiration  in  different 
persons,  nations,  or  ages,  in  Minos  or  Moses,  in  Gentiles 
or  Jews,  in  the  first  century  or  the  last.  If  God  be 
infinitely  perfect.  He  does  not  change  ;  then  his  modes 
of  action  are  perfect  and  unchangeable.  The  laws  of 
Mind,  like  those  of  Matter,  remain  immutable  and  not 
transcended.    As  God  has  left  no  age  nor  man  destitute, 

*  So  long  as  inspiration  is  regarded  as  purely  miraculous,  good 
sense  will  lessen  instances  of  it,  as  far  as  possible  ;  for  most  thinking 
men  feel  more  or  less  repugnance  at  believing  in  any  violation,  on 
God's  part,  of  regular  laws.  As  spiritual  things  are  commonly  less 
Attended  to  than  material,  the  belief  in  miraculous  inspiration  remains 
lonjrer  in  rehgious  than  secular  affairs.  A  man  would  be  looked  on 
as  mad,  who  should  claim  miraculous  inspiration  for  Newton,  as  they 
have  been  who  denied  it  in  the  case  of  Moses.  But  no  candid  man 
will  doubt  that,  humanly  speaking,  it  was  a  more  difficult  thing  to 
write  the  Principia  than  the  Decalogue.  Man  must  have  a  nature 
most  sadly  anomalous,  if,  unassisted,  he  is  able  to  accomplish  all  the 
triumphs  of  modern  science,  and  yet  cannot  discover  the  plainest  and 
most  important  principles  of  Religion  and  Morality  without  a  miracu- 
lous revelation ;  and  still  more  so,  if  being  able  to  discover,  by  God's 
natural  aid,  these  chief  and  most  important  principles,  he  needs  a 
miraculous  inspiration  to  disclose  minor  details.  Science  is  by  no 
means  indispensable,  as  Religion  and  Morals.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Immortality  of  the  soul,  if  it  Is  a  real  advantage,  follows  unavoidably 
from  the  Idea  of  God.  The  Best  Being,  he  must  ivill  the  best  of  good 
things ;  the  Wisest,  he  must  devise  plans  for  that  effect ;  the  most 
Poiverful,  he  must  bring  It  about.  None  can  deny  this.  Does  one 
ask  another  "proof  of  the  fact?"  Is  he  so  very  full  of  faith  who 
cannot  trust  God,  except  he  have  His  bond  in  black  and  white,  given 
under  oath  and  attested  hi  witiipsses  ! 


CONDITION   OF   INSPIRATION.  205 

by  nature,  of  Reason,  Conscience,  Affection,  Soul,  so 
he  leaves  none  destitute  of  inspiration.  It  is,  therefore, 
the  light  of  all  our  being;  the  background  of  all  human 
faculties  ;  the  sole  means  by  which  we  gain  a  knowl- 
edge of  what  is  not  seen  and  felt;  the  logical  condi- 
tion of  all  sensual  knowledge ;  our  highway  to  the 
world  of  Spirit.  Man  cannot,  more  than  Matter,  exist 
without  God.  Inspiration  then,  like  vision,  must  be 
everywhere  the  same  thing  in  kind  ;  however  it  differs 
in  degree,  from  race  to  race,  from  man  to  man.  The 
degi'ee  of  inspiration  must  depend  on  two  things :  first, 
on  the  natural  ability,  the  particular  intellectual,  moral, 
and  religious  endowment,  or  genius,  wherewith  each 
man  is  furnished  by  God;  and  next,  on  the  use  each 
man  makes  of  this  endowment.  In  one  word,  it 
depends  on  the  man's  Quantity  of  Being,  and  his 
Quantity  of  Obedience.  Now  as  men  differ  widely 
in  their  natural  endowments,  and  much  more  widely  in 
the  use  and  development  thereof,  there  must  of  course 
be  various  degrees  of  inspiration,  from  the  lowest  sinner 
up  to  the  highest  saint.  All  men  are  not  by  birth 
capable  of  the  same  degree  of  inspiration  ;  and  by 
culture,  and  acquired  character,  they  are  still  less  capa- 
ble of  it.  A  man  of  noble  intellect,  of  deep,  rich, 
benevolent  affections,  is  by  his  endowments  capable  of 
more  than  one  less  gifted.  He  that  perfectly  keeps  the 
soul's  law,  thus  fulfilling  the  conditions  of  inspiration, 
has  more  than  he  who  keeps  it  imperfectly  ;  the  former 
must  receive  all  his  soul  can  contain  at  that  stage  of  his 
growth.  Thus  it  depends  on  a  man's  own  will,  in 
great  measure,  to  what  extent  he  will  be  inspired. 
The  man  of  humble  gifts  at  first,  by  faithful  obedience 
may  attain  a  greater  degree  than  one  of  larger  outfit, 
who  neglects  his  talent.      The   Apostles  of   the   New 

18 


206  VARIOUS   FORMS    OF   INSPIRATION. 

Testament,  and  the  true  Saints  of  all  countries,  are 
proofs  of  this.  Inspiration,  then,  is  the  consequence  of 
a  faithful  use  of  our  faculties.  Each  man  is  its  subject ; 
God  its  source  ;  Truth  its  only  test.  But  as  truth  ap- 
pears in  various  modes  to  us,  higher  and  lower,  and 
may  be  superficially  divided,  according  to  our  faculties, 
into  truths  of  the  Senses,  of  the  Understanding,  of 
Reason,  of  Conscience,  of  the  Affections,  and  the  Soul, 
so  the  perception  of  truth  in  the  highest  mode,  that  of 
Reason,  Morals,  Philanthropy,  Religion,  is  the  highest 
inspiration.  He,  then,  that  has  the  most  of  Wisdom, 
Goodness,  Religion,  the  most  of  Truth,  in  the  highest 
modes,  is  the  most  inspired. 

Now  universal  infallible  inspiration  can  of  course 
only  be  the  attendant  and  result  of  a  perfect  fulfilment  of 
all  the  laws  of  mind,  of  the  moral,  affectional,  and  relig- 
ious nature ;  and  as  each  man's  faculties  are  limited,  it  is 
not  possible  to  men.  A  foolish  man,  as  such,  cannot 
be  inspired  to  reveal  Wisdom  ;  nor  a  wicked  man  to 
reveal  Virtue ;  nor  an  impious  man  to  reveal  Religion. 
Unto  him  that  hath  more  is  given.  The  poet  reveals 
Poetry ;  the  artist  Art ;  the  philosopher  Science ;  the 
saint  Religion.  The  greater,  purer,  loftier,  more  com- 
plete the  character,  so  is  the  inspiration ;  for  he  that  is 
true  to  Conscience,  faithful  to  Reason,  obedient  to  Re- 
ligion, has  not  only  the  strength  of  his  own  Virtue, 
Wisdom,  and  Piety,  but  the  whole  strength  of  Omnipo- 
tence on  his  side  ;  for  Goodness,  Truth,  and  Love,  as 
we  conceive  them,  are  not  one  thing  in  Man,  and  an- 
other in  God,  but  the  same  thing  in  each.  Thus  Man 
partakes  the  Divine  Nature,  as  the  Platonists,  Chris- 
tians, and  Mystics  call  it.  By  these  means  the  Soul  of 
All  flows  into  the  man ;  what  is  private,  personal, 
peculiar,  ebbs  off  before   that   mighty  influx  from  on 


VARIOUS   FORMS    OF   INSPIRATION.  207 

high.  What  is  universal,  absolute,  true,  speaks  out  of 
his  lips,  in  rude,  homely  utterance,  it  may  be,  or  in  words 
that  burn  and  sparkle  like  the  lightning's  fiery  flash. 

This  inspiration  reveals  itself  in  various  forms,  modi- 
fied by  the  country,  character,  education,  peculiarity  of 
him  who  receives  it,  just  as  water  takes  the  form  and 
the  color  of  the  cup  into  which  it  flows,  and  must  needs 
mingle  with  the  impurities  it  chances  to  meet.     Thus 
Minos  and  Moses  were  inspired  to  make  laws ;  David 
to  pour  out  his  soul  in  pious  strains,  deep  and  sweet  as 
an  angel's  psaltery  ;  Pindar  to  celebrate  virtuous  deeds 
in  high  heroic  song ;  John  the  Baptist  to  denounce  sin  ; 
Gerson,  and  Luther,  and  Bohme,  and  Fenelon,  and  Fox, 
to  do  each  his  peculiar  work,  and  stir  the  world's  heart, 
deep,  very  deep.     Plato  and  Newton,  Milton  and  Isaiah, 
Leibnitz  and  Paul,  Mozart,  Raphael,  Phidias,  Praxite- 
les, Orpheus,  receive  into  their  various  forms,  the  one 
spirit  from  God  most  high.     It  appears  in  action  not 
less  than  speech.     The  Spirit  inspires  Dorcas  to  make 
coats  and  garments  for  the  poor,  no  less  than  Paul  to 
preach  the  Gospel.     As  that  bold  man  himself  has  said, 
"  there   are   diversities    of  gifts,  but   the   same   spirit  ; 
diversities  of  operations,  but  the  same  God  who  work- 
eth  all  in  all."  ^     In  one  man  it  may  appear  in  the  iron 
hardness  of  reasoning,  which  breaks  through  sophistry, 
and  prejudice,  the  rubbish  and  diluvial  drift  of  time.    In 
another  it  is  subdued  and  softened  by  the  flame  of  af- 
fection;   the  hard  iron  of  the  man  is   melted  and  be- 
comes a  stream  of  persuasion,  sparkling  as  it  runs. 

Inspiration  does  not  destroy  the  man's  freedom ;  that 
is  left  fetterless  by  obedience.  It  does  not  reduce  all  to 
one  uniform  standard,  but'Habbakuk  speaks  in  his  own 

*  1  Cor.  XII.  8,  et  seq. 


208  DOES  NOT  DESTROY  FREEDOM. 

way,  and  Hugh  de  St.  Victor  in  his.  The  man  can 
obey  or  not  obey ;  can  quench  the  spirit,  or  feed  it  as  he 
will.  Thus  Jonah  flees  from  his  duty  ;  Calchas  will  not 
tell  the  truth  till  out  of  danger  ;  Peter  dissembles  and 
lies.  Each  of  these  men  had  schemes  of  his  own,  which 
he  would  carry  out,  God  willing  or  not  willing.  But 
when  the  sincere  man  receives  the  truth  of  God  into 
his  soul,  knowing  it  is  God's  truth,  then  it  takes  such 
a  hold  of  him  as  nothing  else  can  do.  It  makes  the 
weak  strong ;  the  timid  brave ;  men  of  slow  tongue 
become  full  of  power  and  persuasion.  There  is  a  new 
soul  in  the  man,  which  takes  him  as  it  were  by  the  hair 
of  his  head,  and  sets  him  down  where  the  idea  he 
wishes  for  demands.  It  takes  the  man  away  from  the 
hall  of  comfort,  the  society  of  his  friends  ;  makes  him 
austere  and  lonely  ;  cruel  to  himself,  if  need  be  ;  sleep- 
less in  his  vigilance,  unfaltering  in  his  toil  ;  never  rest- 
ing from  his  work.  It  takes  the  rose  out  of  the  cheek  ; 
turns  the  man  in  on  himself,  and  gives  him  more  of 
truth.  Then,  in  a  poetic  fancy,  the  man  sees  visions ; 
has  wondrous  revelations ;  every  mountain  thunders ; 
God  burns  in  every  bush  ;  flames  out  in  the  crimson 
cloud  ;  speaks  in  the  wind  ;  descends  with  every  dove ; 
is  All  in  All.  The  Soul,  deep-wrought  in  its  intense 
struggle,  gives  outness  to  its  thought,  and  on  the  trees 
and  stars,  the  fields,  the  floods,  the  corn  ripe  for  the 
sickle,  on  Men  and  Women  it  sees  its  burden  writ.  The 
Spirit  within  constrains  the  man.  It  is  like  wine  that 
hath  no  vent.  He  is  full  of  the  God.  While  he  muses 
the  fire  burns ;  his  bosom  will  scarce  hold  his  heart. 
He  must  speak  or  he  dies,  though  the  earth  quake  at 
his  word.^     Timid  flesh   may  resist,  and   Moses   say,  I 

^  See  Lucan  IX.  564,  et  seq. 


POWER   OF   INSPIRATION.  209 

am  of  slow  speech.  What  avails  that  ?  The  Soul 
says  :  Go  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  to  quicken  thy 
tardy  tongue.  Shrinking  Jeremiah,  effeminate  and 
timid,  recoils  before  the  fearful  work  —  "  The  flesh  will 
quiver  when  the  pincers  tear."  He  says :  I  cannot 
speak.  I  am  a  child.  But  the  great  Soul  of  All  flows 
into  him  and  says :  Say  not  "  I  am  a  child ! "  for  I 
am  with  thee.  Gird  up  thy  loins  like  a  man,  and  speak 
all  that  I  command  thee.  Be  not  afraid  at  men's  faces, 
for  I  will  make  thee  a  defenced  city,  a  column  of  steel, 
and  walls  of  brass.  Speak,  then,  against  the  whole 
land  of  sinners ;  against  the  kings  thereof,  the  princes 
thereof,  its  people  and  its  priests.  They  may  fight 
against  thee,  but  they  shall  not  prevail ;  for  I  am  with 
thee.  Devils  tempt  the  man,  with  the  terror  of  defeat 
and  want,  with  the  hopes  of  selfish  ambition.  It  avails 
nothing.  A  "  Get-thee-behind-me,  Satan,"  brings  an- 
gels to  help.  Then  are  the  man's  lips  touched  with  a 
live  coal  from  the  altar  of  Truth,  brought  by  a  Seraph's 
hand.  He  is  baptized  w^ith  the  Spirit  of  fire.  His 
countenance  is  like  lightning.  The  truth  thunders  from 
his  tongue  —  his  words  eloquent  as  Persuasion  ;  no  ter- 
ror is  terrible ;  no  fear  formidable.  The  peaceful  is 
satisfied  to  be  a  man  of  strife  and  contention,  his  hand 
against  every  man,  to  root  up  and  pluck  down  and  de- 
stroy, to  build  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the 
trowel  in  the  other.  He  came  to  bring  peace,  but  he 
must  set  a  fire,  and  his  soul  is  straitened  till  his  work 
be  done.  Elisha  must  leave  his  oxen  in  the  furrow ; 
Amos  desert  his  summer  fruit  and  his  friend ;  and 
Bohme,  and  Bunyan,  and  Fox,  and  a  thousand  others, 
stout-hearted  and  God-inspired,  must  go  forth  of  their 
errand,  into  the  faithless  world,  to  accept  the  prophet's 
mission,  be  stoned,  hated,  scourged,  slain.     Resistance 

18* 


210  TREATMENT  OF  PROPHETS. 

is  nothing  to  these  men.  Over  them  steel  loses  its 
power,  and  public  opprobrium  its  shame  ;  deadly  things 
do  not  harm  them  ;  they  count  loss  gain  —  shame  glory 
—  death  triumph.  These  are  the  men  who  move  the 
world.  They  have  an  eye  to  see  its  follies,  a  heart  to 
weep  and  bleed  for  its  sin.  Filled  with  a  Soul  wide  as 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,  they  pray  great  prayers 
for  sinful  Man.  The  wild  wail  of  a  brother's  heart  runs 
through  the  saddening  music  of  their  speech.  The 
destiny  of  these  men  is  forecast  in  their  birth.  They 
are  doomed  to  fall  on  evil  times  and  evil  tongues,  come 
when  they  will  come.  The  Priest  and  the  Levite  war 
with  the  Prophet  and  do  him  to  death.  They  brand  his 
name  with  infamy  ;  cast  his  unburied  bones  into  the 
Gehenna  of  popular  shame  ;  John  the  Baptist  must 
leave  his  head  in  a  charger ;  Socrates  die  the  death  ; 
Jesus  be  nailed  to  his  cross  ;  and  Justin,  John  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague,  and  millions  of  hearts  stout  as  these 
and  as  full  of  God,  must  mix  their  last  prayers,  their 
admonition,  and  farewell  blessing,  with  the  crackling 
snap  of  fagots,  the  hiss  of  quivering  flesh,  the  impotent 
tears  of  wife  and  child,  and  the  mad  roar  of  the  exult- 
ing crowd.  Every  path  where  mortal  feet  now  tread 
secure,  has  been  beaten  out  of  the  hard  flint  by  prophets 
and  holy  men,  who  went  before  us,  with  bare  and  bleed- 
ing feet,  to  smooth  the  way  for  our  reluctant  tread.  It 
is  the  blood  of  prophets  that  softens  the  Alpine  rock. 
Their  bones  are  scattered  in  all  the  high  places  of  man- 
kind. Bat  God  lays  his  burdens  on  no  vulgar  men. 
He  never  leaves  their  souls  a  prey.  He  paints  Elysium 
on  their  dungeon  wall.  In  the  populous  chamber  of 
their  heart,  the  light  of  Faith  shines  bright  and  never 
dies.  For  such  as  are  on  the  side  of  God  there  is  no 
cause  to  fear. 


INFLUENCE  OF  GOD  IN  NATUKE  AND  IN  MAN.   211 

The  influence  of  God  in  Nature,  in  its  mechanical, 
vital,  or  instinctive  action,  is  beautiful.  The  shapely 
trees  ;  the  leaves  that  clothe  them  in  loveliness ;  the 
corn  and  the  cattle ;  the  dew  and  the  flowers  ;  the  bird, 
the  insect,  moss  and  stone,  fire  and  water,  and  earth 
and  air ;  the  clear  blue  sky  that  folds  the  world  in  its 
soft  embrace ;  the  light  which  rides  on  swift  pinions, 
enchanting  all  it  touches,  reposing  harmless  on  an  in- 
fant's eyelid,  after  its  long  passage  from  the  other  side 
of  the  universe,  —  all  these  are  noble  and  beautiful ; 
they  admonish  while  they  delight  us,  these  silent  coun- 
sellors and  sovereign  aids.  But  the  inspiration  of  God 
in  man,  when  faithfully  obeyed,  is  nobler  and  far  more 
beautiful.  It  is  not  the  passive  elegance  of  uncon- 
scious things  which  we  see  resulting  from  Man's  volun- 
tary obedience.  That  might  well  charm  us  in  Nature ; 
in  Man  we  look  for  more.  Here  the  beauty  is  intellec- 
tual, the  beauty  of  Thought  which  comprehends  the 
world  and  understands  its  laws  ;  it  is  moral,  the  beauty 
of  Virtue,  which  overcomes  the  world  and  lives  by  its 
own  laws ;  it  is  religious  and  affectional,  the  beauty  of 
Holiness  and  Love,  which  rises  above  the  world  and  lives 
by  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  Life.  A  single  good  man,  at 
one  with  God,  makes  the  morning  and  evening  sun  seem 
little  and  very  low.  It  is  a  higher  mode  of  the  divine 
Power  that  appears  in  him,  self-conscious  and  self-re- 
strained. 

Now  this  it  seems  is  the  only  kind  of  inspiration 
which  is  possible.  It  is  coextensive  with  the  faithful 
use  of  Man's  natural  powers.  Men  may  call  it  mirac- 
ulous, but  nothing  is  more  natural ;  or  they  may  say,  it 
is  entirely  human,  for  it  is  the  result  of  Man's  use  of 
his  faculties  ;  but  what  is  more  divine  than  Wisdom, 
Justice,  Benevolence,  Piety  ?     Are  not  these  the  points 


212  INSPIRATION    COMMONLY   BELIEVED. 

in  which  Man  and  God  conjoin  ?  If  He  is  present 
and  active  in  spirit — such  must  be  the  perfect  result 
of  the  action.  No  doubt  there  is  a  mystery  in  it,  as  in 
sensation,  in  all  the  functions  of  Man.  But  what  then? 
As  a  good  man  has  said  :  "  God  worketh  with  us  both 
to  will  and  to  do."  Mind,  Conscience,  the  affections,  and 
the  Soul  mediate  between  us  and  God,  as  the  senses 
between  us  and  matter.  Is  one  more  surprising  than 
the  other?  Is  the  one  to  be  condemned  as  spiritual 
mysticism  or  Pantheism  ?  Then  so  is  the  other  as 
material  mysticism  or  Pantheism.  Alas,  we  know  but 
in  part ;  our  knowledge  is  circumscribed  by  our  ig- 
norance. 

Now  it  is  the  belief  of  all  primitive  nations  that  God 
inspires  the  wise,  the  good,  the  holy.^  Yes,  that  he 
works  with  Man  in  every  noble  work.  No  doubt  their 
poor  conceptions  of  God  degraded  the  doctrine  and  as- 
cribed to  the  Deity  what  came  from  their  disobedience 
of  his  law. 

The  wisest  and  holiest  men  have  spoken  in  the  name 
of  God.  Minos,  Moses,  Zoroaster,  Confucius,  Zaleu- 
cus,  Numa,  Mahomet,  profess  to  have  received  their 
doctrine  straightway  from  Him.  The  sacred  persons 
of  all  nations,  from  the  Druid  to  the  Pope,  refer  back  to 
his  direct  inspiration.  From  this  source  the  Sibylline 
oracles,  the  responses  at  Delphi,  the  sacred  books  of  all 

^  On  this  doctrine  see  Sonntag,  Doctrina  Inspirationis,  etc.;  1803,  § 
1,  et  seq.  and  the  authors  he  cites.  De  Wette,  Dogmatik,  §  85-96, 
and  §  143-148,  gives  the  Old  Testament  doctrine  of  Inspiration.  See 
also  Hase,  Hutterus  redlvivus,  §  41,  Dogmatik,  §  8.  Bretschnelder, 
Dogmatik,  Vol.  I.  §  14,  et  seq.,  and  Baumgarten-Cruslus,  Dogmen- 
geschichte.  Vol.  II.  p.  775,  et  seq.  Much  useful  matter  has  been  col- 
lected by  these  writers,  and  by  Miinscher,  Bauer,  Von-Colln  and 
Strauss,  but  a  special  history  of  the  doctrine  Is  stUl  a  desideratum. 


INSPIRED   MEN   NOT    GOD.  213 

nations,  the  Vedas  and  the  Bible,  alike  claim  to  proceed. 
Pagans  tell  us  no  man  was  ever  great  without  a  divine 
afflatus  falling  upon  him.^  Much  falsity  was  mingled 
with  the  true  doctrine,  for  that  was  imperfectly  under- 
stood, and  violence,  and  folly,  and  lies  were  thus  as- 
cribed to  God.  Still  the  popular  belief  shows  that  the 
human  mind  turns  naturally  in  this  direction.  Each 
prophet,  false  or  true,  in  Palestine,  Nubia,  India,  Greece, 
spoke  in  the  name  of  God.  In  this  name  the  apostles 
of  Christ  and  of  Mahomet,  the  Catholic  and  the  Pro- 
testant, went  to  their  work.^  A  good  man  feels  that 
Justice,  Goodness,  Truth,  are  immutable,  not  dependent 
on  himself;  that  certain  convictions  come  by  a  law 
over  which  he  has  no  control.  There  they  stand,  he 
cannot  alter  though  he  may  refuse  to  obey  them.  Some 
have  considered  themselves  bare  tools  in  the  hand  of 
God ;  they  did  and  said  they  knew  not  what,  thus 
charging  their  follies  and  sins  on  God  most  high. 
Others,  going  to  a  greater  degree  of  insanity,  have  con- 

^  See  the  opinions  of  the  ancients  in  the  classic  passages,  Cicero  de 
Nat.  Deorum,  II.  66.  Orat.  pro.  Arch,  c,  8.  Xenophon  Memorab. 
I.  1.  Seneca,  Ep.  XLI.  See  many  passages  collected  in  Sonntag. 
See  also  Barclay's  Apology  for  the  Quakers,  Prop.  I.-III.  XI.  Sewell's 
History  of  the  Quakers,  B.  IX.  X.  XI.  XII.  and  p.  693  and  George 
Fox's  Journal,  passim. 

'^  The  history  of  the  formation  of  the  ecclesiastical  doctrine  of  in- 
spiration, which  is  the  Supernatural  View,  is  curious.  It  did  not  as- 
sume its  most  exclusive  shape  in  the  early  teachers.  In  John  of 
Damascus  it  appears  in  its  vigor.  In  Abelard  and  Peter  Lombard,  it 
is  more  mild  and  liberal.  Since  the  Reformation,  it  has  been  violently 
attacked.  Luther  himself  is  fluctuating  in  his  opinions.  As  men's 
eyes  opened  they  would  separate  falsehood  from  truth.  The  writings 
of  the  English  deists  had  a  great  influence  in  this  matter.  See 
Walch's  Religions- Streitigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  ch.  VII.  Strauss  also.  Vol. 
I.  §  14,  et  seq.,  gives  a  brief  and  compendious  account  of  attacks  on 
this  doctrine. 


214  INSPIRATION   UNIVERSAL. 

founded  God  with  themselves,  declaring  that  they  were 
God.  But  even  if  likeness  were  perfect,  it  is  not  iden- 
tity. Yet  a  ray  from  the  primal  light  falls  on  Man. 
No  doubt  there  have  been  men  of  a  high  degree  of  in- 
spiration, in  all  countries ;  the  founders  of  the  various 
religions  of  the  world.  But  they  have  been  limited  in 
their  gifts,  and  their  use  of  them.  The  doctrine  they 
taught  had  somewhat  national,  temporal,  even  personal, 
in  it,  and  so  was  not  the  Absolute  Religion.  No  man 
is  so  great  as  human  Nature,  nor  can  one  finite  being 
feed  forever  all  his  brethren.  So  their  doctrines  were 
limited  in  extent  and  duration. 

Now  this  inspiration  is  limited  to  no  sect,  age,  or 
nation.  It  is  wide  as  the  world,  and  common  as  God. 
It  is  not  given  to  a  few  men,  in  the  infancy  of  man- 
kind, to  monopolize  inspiration  and  bar  God  out  of  the 
soul.  You  and  I  are  not  born  in  the  dotage  and  decay 
of  the  world.  The  stars  are  beautiful  as  in  their  prime ; 
"  the  most  ancient  Heavens  are  fresh  and  strong  ;  "  the 
bird  merry  as  ever  at  its  clear  heart.  God  is  still  every- 
where in  nature,  at  the  line,  the  pole,  in  a  mountain  or 
a  moss.  Wherever  a  heart  beats  with  love ;.  where 
Faith  and  Reason  utter  their  oracles  there  also  is  God, 
as  formerly  in  the  heart  of  seers  and  prophets.  Neither 
Gerizim  nor  Jerusalem,  nor  the  soil  that  Jesus  blessed, 
so  holy  as  the  good  man's  heart ;  nothing  so  full  of 
God.  This  inspiration  is  not  given  to  the  learned  alone, 
not  to  the  great  and  wise,  but  to  every  faithful  child  of 
God.  The  world  is  close  to  the  body  ;  God  closer  to 
the  soul,  not  only  without  but  within,  for  the  all-per- 
vading current  flows  into  each.  The  clear  sky  bends 
over  each  man,  little  or  great ;  let  him  uncover  his 
head,  there  is  nothing  between  him  and  infinite  space. 


INSPIRATION   UNIVERSAL.  215 

So  the  ocean  of  God  encircles  all  men  ;  uncover  the 
soul  of  its  sensuality,  selfishness,  sin,  there  is  nothing 
between  it  and  God,  who  flows  into  the  man,  as  light 
into  the  air.  Certain  as  the  open  eye  drinks  in  the 
light,  do  the  pure  in  heart  see  God,  and  he  that  lives 
truly  feels  him  as  a  presence  not  to  be  put  by.^ 

But  this  is  a  doctrine  of  experience  as  much  as  of 
abstract  reasoning.  Every  man  who  has  ever  prayed  — 
prayed  with  the  mind,  prayed  with  the  heart  greatly 
and  strong,  knows  the  truth  of  this  doctrine,  welcomed 
by  pious  souls.  There  are  hours,  and  they  come  to  all 
men,  when  the  hand  of  destiny  seems  heavy  upon  us ; 
when  the  thought  of  time  misspent ;  the  pang  of  affec- 
tion misplaced  or  ill-requited  ;  the  experience  of  man's 
worse  nature  and  the  sense  of  our  own  degradation, 
come  over  us.  In  the  outward  and  inward  trials,  we 
know  not  which  way  to  turn.  The  heart  faints  and  is 
ready  to  perish.  Then  in  the  deep  silence  of  the  soul ; 
when  the  man  turns  inward  to  God,  light,  comfort, 
peace  dawn  on  him.  His  troubles  —  they  are  but  a 
dewdrop  on  his  sandal.  His  enmities  or  jealousies, 
hopes,  fears,  honors,  disgraces,  all-  the  undeserved  mis- 
haps of  life,  are  lost  to  the  view ;  diminished,  and  then 
hid  in  the  mists  of  the  valley  he  has  left  behind  and  be- 
low him.  Resolution  comes  over  him  with  its  vigorous 
wing ;  Truth  is  clear  as  noon  ;  the  soul  in  faith  rushes 
to  its  God.     The  mystery  is  at  an  end. 

It  is-  no  vulgar  superstition  to  say  men  are  inspired 
in  such  times.  They  are  the  seed-time  of  life.  Then 
we  live   whole  years   through  in  a  few  moments,  and 

^  Such  as  like  to  settle  questions  by  autJiority,  will  see  that  this  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  more  spiritual  writers  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, especially  of  John  and  Paul.  It  seems  to  me  this  was  the 
doctrine  of  Jesus  himself. 


216         THE  DOCTRINE  OF  EXPERIENCE. 

afterwards,  as  we  journey  on  in  life,  cold,  and  dusty, 
and  travel-worn  and  faint,  we  look  to  that  moment  as  a 
point  of  light;  the  remembrance  of  it  comes  over  us 
like  the  music  of  our  home  heard  in  a  distant  land. 
Like  Elisha  in  the  fable,  we  go  long  years  in  the 
strength  thereof.  It  travels  with  us,  a  great  wakening 
light ;  a  pillar  of  fire  in  the  darkness,  to  guide  us 
through  the  lonely  pilgrimage  of  life.  These  hours  of 
Inspiration,  like  the  flower  of  the  aloe-tree,  may  be  rare, 
but  are  yet  the  celestial  blossoming  of  Man  ;  the  result 
of  the  past,  the  prophecy  of  the  future.  They  are  not 
numerous  to  any  man.  Happy  is  he  that  has  ten  such 
in  a  year,  yes,  in  a  lifetime. 

Now  to  many  men,  who  have  but  once  felt  this  — 
when  Heaven  lay  about  them,  in  their  infancy,  before 
the  world  was  too  much  with  them,  and  they  laid  waste 
their  powers,  getting  and  spending,  —  when  they  look 
back  upon  it,  across  the  dreary  gulf,  where  Honor,  Vir- 
tue, Religion,  have  made  shipwreck  and  perished  with 
their  youth,  it  seems  visionary,  a  shadow,  dream-like, 
unreal.  They  count  it  a  phantom  of  their  inexperience  ; 
the  vision  of  a  child's  fancy,  raw  and  unused  to  the 
world.  Now  they  are  wiser.  They  cease  to  believe  in 
inspiration.  They  can  only  credit  the  saying  of  the 
priests,  that  long  ago  there  were  inspired  men  ;  but  none 
now ;  that  you  and  I  must  bow  our  faces  to  the  dust, 
groping  like  the  Blind-worm  and  the  Beetle  ;  not  turn 
our  eyes  to  the  broad,  free  Heaven  ;  that  we  cannot 
walk  by  the  great  central  and  celestial  light  which  God 
made  to  guide  all  who  come  into  the  world,  but  only 
by  the  farthing-candle  of  tradition,  poor  and  flickering 
light  which  we  get  of  the  priest,  which  casts  sti'ange 
and  fearful  shadows  around  us  as  we  walk,  that  "  leads 
to  bewilder  and  dazzles  to  blind."  Alas  for  us  if  this 
beaUI 


POPULAR   DOUBTS   THEREOF.  217 

But  can  it  be  so  ?  Has  Infinity  laid  aside  its  Omni- 
presence, retreating  to  some  little  corner  of  space  ?  No. 
The  grass  grows  as  green  ;  the  birds  chirp  as  gaily  ;  the 
sun  shines  as  warm;  the  moon  and  the  stars  walk  in 
their  pure  beauty,  sublime  as  before;  morning  and 
evening  have  lost  none  of  their  loveliness  ;  not  a  jewel 
has  fallen  from  the  diadem  of  night.  God  is  still  there; 
ever  present  in  Matter,  else  it  were  not ;  else  the  ser- 
pent of  Fate  would  coil  him  about  the  All  of  things ; 
would  crush  it  in  his  remorseless  grasp,  and  the  hour  of 
ruin  strike  creation's  knell. 

Can  it  be  then,  as  so  many  tell  us,  that  God,  tran- 
scending Time  and  Space,  immanent  in  Matter,  has 
forsaken  Man  ;  retreated  from  the  Shekinah  in  the  Holv 
of  Holies,  to  the  court  of  the  Gentiles  ;  that  now  he 
will  stretch  forth  no  aid,  but  leave  his  tottering  child  to 
wander  on,  amid  the  palpable  obscure,  eyeless  and  fa- 
therless, without  a  path,  with  no  guide  but  his  feeble 
brother's  words  and  works ;  groping  after  God  if  haply 
he  may  find  him;  and  learning,  at  last,  that  he  is  but  a 
God  afar  off,  to  be  approached  only  by  mediators  and 
attorneys,  not  face  to  face  as  before  ?  Can  it  be  that 
Thought  shall  fly  through  the  Heaven,  his  pinion  glit- 
tering in  the  ray  of  every  star,  burnished  by  a  million 
suns,  and  men  come  drooping  back,  with  ruflfled  plume 
and  flagging  wing,  and  eye  which  once  looked  undazzled 
on  the  sun,  now  spiritless  and  cold  —  come  back  to  tell 
us  God  is  no  Father ;  that  he  veils  his  face  and  will  not 
look  upon  his  child ;  his  erring  child  I  No  more  can 
this  be  true.  Conscience  is  still  God-with-us  ;  a  Prayer 
is  deep  as  ever  of  old  ;  Reason  as  true  ;  Religion  as 
blest.  Faith  still  remains  the  substance  of  things  hoped 
for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.  Love  is  yet  mighty 
to  cast  out  fear.     The  Soul  still  searches  the  deeps  of 

19 


218  GOD   READY  TO   AID   US. 

God  ;  the  pure  in  heart  see  him.  The  substance  of  the 
Infinite  is  not  yet  exhausted,  nor  the  well  of  Life  drunk 
dry.  The  Father  is  near  us  as  ever,  else  Reason  were 
a  traitor,  Morality  a  hollow  form,  Religion  a  mockery, 
and  Love  a  hideous  lie.  Now,  as  in  the  days  of  Adam, 
Moses,  Jesus,  he  that  is  faithful  to  Reason,  Conscience, 
Heart  and  Soul,  will,  through  them,  receive  inspiration 
to  guide  him  through  all  his  pilgrimage. 


BOOK   III. 


(219> 


"  Where  there  is  a  great  deal  of  smoke  and  no  clear  flame,  it  argueth  much  moisture 
in  the  matter,  and  yet  it  witnesseth  certainly  that  there  is  fire  there  ;  and  therefore 
dubious  questioning  is  a  much  better  evidence,  than  that  senseless  deadness  which 
most  men  take  for  believing.  Men  that  know  nothing  in  sciences  have  no  doubts," 
Leighton,  cited  by  Coleridge,  Aids  to  Reflection^  American  edition,  1829,  p.  64. 

"  He  who  begins  by  loving  Christianity  better  than  Truth  will  proceed  by  loving  his 
own  Sect  or  Church,  better  than  Christianity,  and  end  in  loving  himself  better  than 
all."    Coleridge,  uhi.  sup.  p.  64,  65. 

"While  everybody  wishes  to  believe  rather  than  examine  and  decide,  a  just  judgment 
is  never  passed  upon  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  ;  our  opinion  thereof  is 
taken  on  trust.  The  error  of  our  fathers  which  has  fallen  into  our  hands  whirls  us 
round  and  drives  us  headlong.  We  are  ruined  by  the  example  of  others.  We  shall  be 
healed  if  we  separate  from  the  rabble.  Now  the  people,  in  hostility  with  Reason,  stand 
up  as  the  defence  of  what  is  their  own  mischief."  Seneca,  De  Vita  beata,  Ch.  I.,  a 
free  translation. 

(220) 


BOOK  III. 

THE    RELATION    OF    THE  RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT    TO  JESUS    OP 
NAZARETH,    OR   A    DISCOURSE   OF    CHRISTIANITY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  QUESTION  AND  THE  METHOD  OF 

INQUIRY. 

It  was  said  before,  that  Religion,  like  Love,  is  always 
the  same  thing  in  kind,  though  both  are  necessarily 
modified  by  other  emotions  combining  therewith,  and 
by  the   conception   of    the  object  to    which    the    emo- 
tion is  directed.     Thus  Love  is  modified  as  it  chances 
to  coexist  with  weakness  or  strength,  folly  or  wisdom, 
selfishness  or  morality,  —  qualities  in  the  Subject  who 
loves.     By  these  qualities  the  degree  of  Love  is  deter- 
mined.    It  is  modified  also  by  the  qualities  of  the   Ob- 
ject; as  love  is  directed  towards  a  child,  a  wife,  or  a 
friend.     Hence  come  the  different  modifications  of  Re- 
ligion as  it  coexists  with  faith  or  fear,  wisdom  or  igno- 
rance, love  or  hate  in  the  worshipping  subject,  and  agam 
as  the  object  of  worship,  is  conceived  to  be  one  being, 

19  *  (221) 


222  RELATION   OF   THE  RELIGIOUS 

or  many  beings,  or  all  being ;  as  it  is  conceived  of  as 
the  absolutely  Perfect :  or  represented  as  finite,  cruel, 
capricious,  and  unlovely.  The  only  perfect  form  of  Re- 
ligion is  produced  by  all  the  powers  of  a  man's  nature, 
acting  harmoniously  together.  All  manifestations  of 
Religion  proceed  from  the  religious  element  in  Man,  and 
are,  more  or  less,  imperfect  representations  of  that  ele- 
ment, as  its  action  is  more  or  less  impeded  or  promoted 
by  various  causes. 

If  this  be  so,  it  follows  that  the  religious  Element  or 
faculty  in  Man  bears  the  same  relation  to  each  and  all 
particular  forms  and  teachers  of  Religion,  that  Reason 
bears  to  each  and  all  particular  systems  or  teachers  of 
Philosophy.  That  is,  as  no  one  teacher  or  system  of 
Philosophy,  nor  all  teachers  and  systems  taken  together 
have  exhausted  Reason,  which  is  the  groundwork  and 
standard-measure  of  them  all,  and  is  represented  more 
or  less  partially  in  each  of  them,  and  therefore  as  new 
teachers  and  new  systems  of  Philosophy  are  always 
possible  and  necessary  until  a  system  is  discovered  which 
embraces  all  the  facts  of  Science,  sets  forth  and  legit- 
imates all  the  laws  of  Nature,  and  thus  represents  the 
Absolute  Science,  which  is  implied  in  the  Facts  of 
Nature,  or  the  Ideas  of  God  ;  so  no  one  teacher  or  form 
of  Religion,  nor  all  teachers  and  forms  put  together, 
have  exhausted  the  religious  Faculty,  which  is  the 
groundwork  and  standard-measure  of  them  all,  and  is 
represented  more  or  less  partially  in  each,  and  so  new 
teachers  and  new  forms  of  Religion  are  always  possible 
and  necessary,  until  a  form  is  discovered,  which  em- 
braces all  the  facts  of  Man's  moral  and  religious 
nature,  sets  forth  and  legitimates  all  the  laws  thereof, 
and  thus  represents  the  Absolute  Religion,  as  it  is 
implied  in  the  Facts  of  Man's  nature,  or  the  Ideas  of 


ELEMENT   TO    A    FORM    OF   RELIGION.  223 

God.  As  no  system  or  teacher  of  Philosophy  is  greater 
than  Reason,  and  competent  to  give  laws  to  Nature, 
but  at  the  utmost  is  only  coordinate  with  Reason,  and 
competent  to  discover  and  announce  the  laws  of  Nature 
previously  existing;  so  no  form  or  teacher  of  Religion 
can  be  greater  than  the  religious  Element,  and  compe- 
tent to  give  laws  to  Man,  but  at  the  utmost  is  only 
coordinate  with  the  religious  Element,  and  competent 
to  discover  and  announce  the  laws  of  Man  previously 
existing.  In  one  w^ord.  Absolute  Science  answers 
exactly  to  Reason,  and  is  what  Reason  demands ; 
Absolute  Religion  answers  exactly  to  the  religious  Ele- 
ment, and  is  what  the  religious  Element  demands. 
Therefore  until  Philosophy  and  Religion  attain  the 
Absolute,  each  form  or  teacher  of  either  is  subject  to 
be  modified  or  supplanted  by  any  man  w^ho  has  a  truth 
not  embraced  by  the  Philosophy  or  Religion  at  that  time 
extant.  However,  there  are  certain  primary  truths  of 
Science  and  Religion,  which  alone  render  the  two 
possible,  and  which  are  possessed  with  more  or  less  of 
a  distinct  understanding  by  all  teachers  of  the  two,  and 
attain  greater  prominence  with  some.  Though  a  sys- 
tem may  have  many  faults  accidentally  connected  with 
it ;  though  others  may  point  out  the  faults  and  develop 
the  system  still  further,  yet  the  first  principles  remain. 
Thus  in  Science,  the  maxims  of  Geometry,  in  Morals 
the  first  truths  thereof,  must  reappear  in  all  the  systems. 
Now  to  make  a  special  application  of  these  general 
remarks:  Christianity  can  be  no  greater  than  the  Relig- 
ious Faculty,  though  it  may  be  less,  as  the  water  can 
of  itself  rise  no  higher  in  the  pipe  than  in  the  fountain, 
though  if  the  pipe  be  defective  it  may  fail  of  its  former 
height.  Religion  is  the  universal  term  ;  Absolute  Relig- 
ion and  Morality  its  highest  expression  ;   Christianity  is 


224  CHRISTIANITY   AND    THE   ABSOLUTE. 

a  particular  form  under  this  universal  term  ;  one  form 
of  Religion  among  many  others.  It  is  either  Absolute 
Religion  and  Morality,  or  it  is  less ;  greater  it  cannot 
be,  as  there  is  no  gi-eater.  Christianity  then  is  a  form 
of  Religion.  As  it  is  actual,  it  must  have  been  re- 
vealed ;  if  it  is  true  it  must  be  natural.  It  is  therefore 
to  be  examined  and  judged  of  as  other  forms  of  Relig- 
ion, by  Reason  and  the  religious  Element.  It  is  true 
or  false  ;  perfect  or  imperfect. 

The  question  then  reduces  itself  to  this.  Is  Chris- 
tianity the  Absolute  Religion  ?  To  answer  the  ques- 
tion we  must  know,  first,  what  Christianity  is  ;  secondly, 
what  Absolute  Religion  is.  If  Christianity  is  not  the 
Absolute,  we  must  of  course  look  for  a  more  perfect 
manifestation  of  Religion,  just  as  we  look  for  improve- 
ments in  Science  till  Philosophy  becomes  absolute. 
But  if  Christianity  be  this,  or  involve  it,  and  nothing 
conti'adicts  or  impedes  this,  then  w^e  can  expect  nothing 
higher  in  Religion,  for  there  is  no  higher ;  but  have  only 
to  understand  this,  and  develop  its  principles ;  apply- 
ing it  to  life,  in  order  to  attain  perfect  religious  wel- 
fare. 

To  ascertain  what  is  Absolute  Religion,  is  no  diffi- 
cult matter;  for  Religion  is  not  an  external  thing,  like 
Astronomy,  to  be  learned  by  long  observation,  and  the 
perfection  of  scientific  instruments  and  algebraic  pro- 
cesses ;  but  something  above  all,  inward  and  natural 
to  Man.  As  it  was  said  before,  Absolute  Religion  is 
perfect  obedience  to  the  Law  of  God  ;  the  service  of 
God  by  the  normal  use,  development,  and  discipline  of 
every  limb  of  the  body,  every  faculty  of  the  spirit ; 
perfect  Love  towards  God  and  Man,  exhibited  in  a  life 
allowing  and  demanding  a  harmonious  action  of  all 
Man's  faculties,  so  far  as  they  act  at  all. 


METHOD    OF   INQUIRY.  225 

But  to  answer  the  historical  question :  Did  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  teach  Absolute  Religion  ?  is  a  matter  vastly 
more  difficult,  which  it  requires  learning,  critical  skill, 
and  no  little  painstaking  to  make  out.  To  answer  the 
first  question.  What  is  Christianity  ?  is  a  very  difficult 
thing.  No  two  men  seem  agreed  about  it ;  the  wicked- 
est of  wars  have  been  fought  to  settle  it.  To  answer 
the  query,  are  we  to  take  what  is  popularly  called 
Christianity?  No  Protestant  thinks  the  Christianity 
of  the  Catholic  Church  is  Absolute  Religion ;  nor  will 
the  Catholic  think  better  of  the  Protestant  faith.  A 
pious  man,  free  from  bigotry,  and  capable  of  judging, 
would  surely  make  very  short  work  of  the  question,  and 
decide  that  Christianity,  as  popularly  taught  by  both 
these  churches,  taken  together,  is  not  Absolute  Religion. 

But  we  must  look  deeper  than  Protestantism  and 
Popery.  We  must  distinguish  Christianity  from  the 
popular  Conceptions  of  Christianity;  from  its  Proof 
and  its  Form.  To  do  this,  we  must  go  back,  histori- 
cally, to  the  fountainhead,  the  words  of  Jesus.  We 
must  then  take  these  words  in  the  abstract,  separate 
from  any  church  ;  apart  from  all  authority,  real  or  pre- 
tended ;  without  respect  of  any  application  thereof  to 
life,  that  was  made  by  its  founder  or  others.  If  all 
churches  have  believed  it,  if  miracles  have  been  wrought 
in  its  favor,  if  its  application  have  been  good  in  this  or 
that  case,  it  does  not  follow  that  Christianity  is  absolute 
and  final.  The  Church  has  been  notoriously  mistaken 
on  many  points.  Miracles  are  claimed  for  Judaism, 
Mahometanism,  and  Idolatry;  each  heresy  is  thought 
by  its  followers  to  work  well.  We  must  look  away 
from  all  these  considerations.  If  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
lived  out  his  idea,  and  was  the  greatest  of  saints,  it 
does  not  follow  that  his  Idea  was  absolute,  and  there- 


226  RELIGIOUS   TRUTH   ETERNAL. 

fore  final.  If  he  did  not  perfectly  live  it  out,  the  re- 
verse does  not  follow.  The  good  life  of  a  teacher 
proves  nothing  of  any  speculative  doctrine  he  enter- 
tains, either  in  morals  or  mathematics.  A  man  would 
be  thought  insane  who  should  say  Euclid's  demonstra- 
tion of  the  forty-seventh  problem  was  true,  because 
Euclid  lived  a  good  life,  and  raised  men  from  the  dead ; 
or  that  it  was  false,  because  he  lived  a  bad  life,  and 
murdered  his  mother.  If  Christianity  be  the  Absolute, 
it  is  independent  of  all  circumstances  ;  eternally  true, 
as  much  before  its  declaration  as  after  it  is  brought  lo 
light  and  applied  to  life.^  Before  its  revelation  it 
was  active,  but  unknown ;  afterwards  known  to  be 
active.  To  illustrate  this  point :  the  three  angles  of  a 
triangle  are  equal  to  two  right  angles.  This  is  eternally 
true  ;  and  applies  to  all  triangles  that  were,  are,  or  are 
to  be  conceived  of.  It  was  just  as  true  before  any  one 
discovered  and  declared  it,  as  afterwards.  Its  truth  de- 
pends not  on  the  fact  that  Thales  or  Stilpo  demonstrates 
the  theorem,  nor  on  the  authority  of  him  who  asserts  it. 
Its  truth  exists  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  or,  to  use 
other  words,  in  the  Ideas  of  God.  It  was  just  the  same 
before  creation  as  afterwards.  Other  things  remaining 
the  same,  even  Omnipotence  cannot  make  these  three 
angles  to  be  more  or  less  than  two  right  angles,  for  In- 
finite power  of  course  excludes  contradictions. 

Now  here  are  two  things  :  first.  Religion  as  it  exists 
in  the  facts  of  man's  nature,  and  secondly.  Religion  as 
taught  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  first  must  be  eter- 
nally true.     But  it  follows   from  no   premise  that  the 


^  See  this  point  touched  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Previous 
Question  between  Mr.  Andrews  Norton  and  his  Alumni,  moved  and 
handled,  by  Levi  Blodgett."     Boston,  1840. 


EELIGIOUS  TRUTH  ETERNAL.  227 

second  is  eternally  true.  He  may  have  taught  Absolute 
Religion,  or  an  imperfect  form  ;  he  may  have  omitted 
what  was  essential,  or  have  added  what  was  national, 
temporal,  personal.  In  either  case  Christianity  is  not 
the  Absolute  Religion.  But  if  it  have  none  of  these 
faults,  and  really  conforms  with  this  ideal  standard,  or 
involves  this,  and  if  nothing  therein  contradicts  it,  then 
Christianity  is  the  Absolute  Religion  ;  eternally  true,  be- 
fore revelation,  after  revelation  ;  the  Law  God  made  for 
Man,  and  wrote  in  his  nature. 

Then  again  if  the  character  of  Jesus  was  not  a  per- 
fect manifestation  of  this  perfect  Religion  which  he 
taught  or  implied  ;  if  his  application  of  it  to  life,  was 
limited  by  his  position,  his  youth,  his  indiscretion,  fa- 
naticism, prejudice,  ignorance,  selfishness,  as  some  have 
contended,  it  does  not  make  the  Religion  he  taught  any 
the  less  perfect  in  itself;  if  true  at  all  it  is  eternally 
true.  If  Christianity  be  true  at  all,  it  would  be  just  as 
true  if  Herod  or  Catiline  had  taught  it.  Therefore  if 
the  intellectual  character  of  Jesus  had  never  so  many 
defects,  if  he  entertained  false  notions  about  himself, 
his  office,  ministry,  destination ;  respecting  ancient  his- 
tory and  Jewish  literature ;  the  existence  and  agency 
of  devils,  and  in  general,  respecting  things  past,  present, 
and  to  come  ;  if  he  entertained  the  absurdest  notions 
at  the  same  time  with  his  pure  doctrine ;  nay,  if  he  had 
never  so  many  moral  deficiencies,  if  he  denounced  his 
enemies,  and  was  frighted  at  danger,  and  fled  away 
from  death,  or  had  even  recanted  his  most  vigorous 
statements,  still  his  religious  doctrine  remains  unaffected 
by  all  of  these  circumstances.  To  make  this  point 
clear  by  recurring  to  a  former  illub^tration,  a  philosopher 
may  show  that  the  three  angles  of  a  triangle  are  equal 
to  two  right  angles,  yet  lead   an   immoral  life,  believe 


228  DEPENDS   NOT  ON  JESUS. 

in  witches,  devils,  the  philosopher's  stone,  and  imputed 
righteousness.  His  absurd  belief  and  wicked  life,  do 
not  affect  the  truth  of  his  theorem. 

Now  then  to  determine  what  Christianity  is,  we  must 
remove  all  those  extraneous  matters  relating  to  the  per- 
son, character,  and  authority  of  him  who  first  taught  it ; 
we  must  separate  it  from  all  applications  thereof  which 
have  been  made  to  life  ;  must  view  it  by  itself,  as  doc- 
trine, as  life  ;  and  measure  it  by  this  ideal  standard  of 
Absolute  Religion.  After  we  have  determined  this 
question,  we  may  then  judge  of  the  applications  of 
Christianity  to  life  ;  of  the  character  of  its  Revealer 
and  try  both  by  the  standard  he  offers. 


CHAPTER   II. 

REMOVAL   OF   SOME    DIFFICULTIES.      CHARACTER   OF   THE 
CHRISTIAN   RECORDS. 

The  method  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  Absolute 
Religion  is  plain  and  easy,  but  to  get  a  knowledge  of 
the  doctrine  taught  by  any  teacher  of  ancient  times  is 
more  difficult.  This,  however,  may  be  said  in  general, 
that  there  are  three  sources  of  knowledge  accessible  to 
Men,  two  of  these  are  direct,  and  one  indirect.  First, 
Perception  through  the  senses ;  by  this  we  only  get  an 
acquaintance  with  material  things  and  their  properties. 
Second,  Intuition  through  Intellect,  Conscience,  the 
Religious  Faculty,  by  which  we  get  an  acquaintance 
with  spiritual  things,  which  are  not  objects  of  sense. 
Third,  Reflection,  a  mental  process,  by  which  we  unfold 
what  is  contained  or  implied  or  suggested  in  percep- 
tions or  intuitions.  Then  as  a  secondary,  but  not  ulti- 
mate source,  there  is  Testimony,  by  which  we  learn 
what  others  have  found  out,  through  perception,  intui- 
tion, or  reflection.  Now  thoughts  or  objects  of  thought 
may  be  classified  in  reference  to  their  sources.  The 
truths  of  Absolute  Religion  are  not  matters  of  Sense,  it 
is  plain.  If  objects  of  Reflection  or  Intuition,  they 
must  be  obvious  to  aU  who  have  the  intuitive  or  reflec- 
tive faculty,  and  will  use  it.     They  therefore  are  matters 

20  (229) 


230  CHARACTER   OF  THE  TESTIMONY. 

of  direct  personal  experience  ;  not  so  a  knowledge  of 
any  given  historical  form  of  Religion.  As  it  has  been 
before  said,  the  great  truths  of  Religion  are  matters  of 
spontaneous  Intuition,  and  then  of  voluntary  Reflection, 
God  helping  the  faithful,  who  use  their  faculties  justly. 
Therefore,  theoretically,  each  may  depend  on  his  own 
intuitions,  and  reflections.  The  aid,  the  counsel,  the 
example  of  good  men  help  us  to  the  truth.  The  wise 
and  the  pious  are  the  educators  whom  God  appoints 
for  the  race.  By  their  superior  gift,  they  help  feebler 
men  to  understand,  what  else  the  latter  might  never 
have  reached.  The  same  rule  holds  good  in  both  Phi- 
losophy and  Religion  ;  the  weak  need  the  help  of  the 
strong  ;  youth  of  experience  ;  the  faithless  of  the  faith- 
ful. Even  the  experience  of  wicked  men  is  an  element 
of  human  progression,  a  warning  light.  The  works  and 
words  of  the  saint  help  the  sinner  to  the  source  of  truth. 
This  is  the  office  of  prophets  and  apostles. 

In  historical  questions,  respecting  events  that  took 
place  out  of  the  sphere  of  our  observation,  we  must  de- 
pend on  the  testimony  of  others  who  report  what  they 
have  seen  and  heard,  felt  or  thought.  To  determine 
what  Jesus  taught,  we  must  depend  on  the  testimony 
of  the  Evangelists,  who  profess  to  relate  his  works  and 
words,  and  the  Apostles,  who  reduced  his  thought  to 
organization  and  applied  it  to  life.  To  speak  of  the 
four  Evangelists  —  admitting,  for  the  sake  of  the  argu- 
ment, we  have  their  evidence,  and  the  books  in  our 
hands  come  really  from  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and 
John,  and  that  they  bore  the  relation  to  Jesus  which 
they  claim  ;  the  question  comes  :  —  Are  they  compe- 
tent to  testify  in  the  case  ?  Can  we  trust  them  to  give 
us  the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth  ?  Admit- 
ting they  were  honest,  yet  if  they  were  but  men,  there 


DEFECTS    OF  THE   EVIDENCE.  231 

must  be  limitations  to  the  accm*acy  of  their  testimony. 
They  must  omit  many  things  that  Jesus  said  and  did, 
perhaps  both  actions  and  words  important  in  estimating 
his  doctrines.  They  can  express  only  so  much  of  their 
teacher's  opinions  as  they  know;  to  do  this  they  might 
perhaps  modify,  at  least  color,  the  doctrine  in  their  own 
mind.  They  might  sometimes  misunderstand  what 
they  heard  ;  mistake  a  general  for  a  particular  state- 
ment, and  the  reverse ;  a  new  doctrine  of  the  teacher 
might  accidentally  coincide  in  part  with  an  old  doctrine, 
and  he  be  supposed  to  teach  what  he  did  not  teach  ;  a 
parable  or  an  action  might  be  misunderstood ;  a  quota- 
tion misapplied  or  forgotten,  and  another  put  in  its 
place  ;  a  general  prediction,  wish,  or  hope  referred  to  a 
specific  time,  or  event,  when  it  had  no  such  reference. 
He  may  have  merely  allowed  things  which  he  was 
afterwards  supposed  to  have  commanded.  The  \vi'iters 
might  unconsciously  exaggerate  or  diminish  the  fact ; 
they  might  get  intelligence  at  second-hand,  from  hear- 
say, and  popular  rumor.  Their  national,  sectarian,  per- 
sonal prejudices  must  color  their  narrative.  They  might 
confound  their  own  notions  with  his,  and  represent 
them  as  teaching  what  he  did  not  teach.  They  might 
not  separate  fact  from  fancy.  Their  love  of  the  mar- 
vellous might  lead  them  astray.  If  they  believed  in 
miracles  they  would  easily  incline  to  ascribe  prodigious 
things  to  their  teacher.  Had  they  a  faith  in  ghosts  and 
devils,  they  would  naturally  interpret  his  words  in  favor 
of  their  own  notions,  rather  than  in  opposition  thereto. 
If  the  writers  were  ignorant  men  ;  if  they  wrote  in  one 
language  and  he  spoke  in  another  ;  yet  more,  if  they 
wrote  at  some  distance  of  time  from  the  events,  and 
were  not  skilled  in  sifting  rumors  and  separating  fact 
from  fiction,  the  difficulty  becomes  still  greater. 

These   defects  are  common,  more  or  less,  to  all  his- 


232  DEFECTS    OF   HISTORICAL   TESTIMONY. 

torical  testimony-  In  the  case  of  the  Evangelists,  they 
constitute  a  very  serious  difficulty.  We  know  the  char- 
acter of  the  writers  only  from  themselves ;  they  relate 
much  from  hearsay ;  they  continually  mingle  their  own 
personal  prejudices  in  their  work ;  their  testimony  was 
not  reduced  to  writing,  so  far  as  we  know,  till  long  after 
the  event;  we  see  that  they  were  often  mistaken,  and 
did  not  always  understand  the  words  or  actions  of  their 
teacher ;  that  they  contradict  one  another,  and  even 
themselves ;  that  they  mingle  with  their  story  puerile 
notions  and  tales  which  it  is  charitable  to  call  absurd; 
that  they  do  not  write  for  a  purely  historical  purpose, 
relating  facts  as  they  were,  but  with  a  doctrinal,  or  con- 
troversial aim.  Such  testimony  could  not  be  received 
if  found  in  Valerius  Maximus  and  Livy,  or  offered  in 
a  coart  of  justice  when  only  a  few  dollars  were  at 
stake,  without  great  caution. 

Now  the  difficulty  in  this  case  is  enormous.  It  has 
been  felt  from  an  early  age.  To  get  rid  of  the  evil,  it 
has  been  taught,  and  even  believed,  that  the  Evangelists 
and  Apostles  were  miraculously  inspired  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  they  could  commit  no  mistake  of  any  kind  in 
this  matter,  and  had  none  of  the  defects  above  hinted 
at.  The  assumption  is  purely  gratuitous :  there  is  not 
a  fact  on  which  to  base  it.  The  writers  themselves 
never  claim  it.  From  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  as 
before  laid  down,  it  appears  such  infallibility  is  not  pos- 
sible ;  and  from  an  examination  of  the  facts  of  the  case, 
it  appears  it  was  not  actual :  the  Evangelists  differ 
widely  from  the  Apostles ;  the  Synoptics  ^  give  us  in 
Jesus  a  very  different  being  from  the  Christ  whom  John 
describes,  and  all  four  make  such  contradictory  state- 
ments on  some  points,  as  to  show  they  were   by  no 

^  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke. 


INCONSISTENCIES  IN   THE   RECORDS.  233 

means  infallibly  inspired ;  for  in  that  case  not  only  the 
smallest  contradiction  would  have  been  impossible,  but 
without  concert,  they  must  all  have  written  exactly  the 
same  thing,  yet  John  omits  the  most  surprising  facts, 
the  Synoptics  the  most  surprising  doctrines. 

What  has  been  said  is  sufficient  to  show  that  we 
must  proceed  with  great  caution  in  accepting  the  state- 
ments of  the  Gospels.  The  most  careless  observer  dis- 
covers inconsistencies,  absurd  narrations ;  finds  actions 
attributed  to  Jesus,  and  words  put  in  his  mouth,  which 
are  directly  at  variance  with  his  great  principles,  and 
the  general  tone  of  his  character.  Still  there  must  have 
been  a  foundation  of  fact  for  such  a  superstructure ;  a 
great  spirit  to  have  commenced  such  a  movement  as 
the  Christian ;  a  great  doctrine  to  have  accomplished 
this,  the  most  profound  and  wondrous  revolution  in 
human  affairs.  We  must  conclude  that  these  writers 
would  describe  the  main  features  of  his  life,  and  set 
down  the  great  principles  of  his  doctrine,  its  most 
salient  points,  and  his  most  memorable  sayings,  such 
as  were  poured  out  in  the  highest  moments  of  inspira- 
tion. If  the  teacher  were  true,  these  sayings  would 
involve  all  the  rest  of  his  doctrine,  which  any  man  of 
simple  character,  religious  heart,  and  mind  free  from 
prejudice,  could  unfold  and  develop  still  further.  The 
condition  and  nature  of  the  Christian  records  will  not 
allow  us  to  go  further  than  this,  and  be  curious  in  par- 
ticulars. Their  legendary  and  mythical  character  does 
not  warrant  full  confidence  in  their  narrative.  There 
are  certain  main  features  of  doctrine  in  which  the 
Evangelists  and  the  Apostles  all  agree,  though  they 
differ  in  most  other  points.^ 

^  The  character  of  the  record  is  such  that  I  see  not  how  any  stress 
can  be  laid  on  each  particular  action  attributed  to  Jesus.     That  he 

20* 


234  EESULT  OF  THE  EVIDENCE. 

lived  a  divine  life,  suffered  a  violent  death,  taught  and  lived  a  most  true 
and  beautiful  religion,  this  seems  the  great  fact  about  which  a  mass  of 
truth  and  error  has  been  collected.  That  he  should  gather  disciples, 
be  opposed  by  the  Priests  and  Pharisees,  have  controversies  with 
them  —  this  lay  in  the  nature  of  things.  His  loftiest  sayings  seem  to 
me  the  most  likely  to  be  genuine.  The  great  stress  laid  on  the  Per- 
son of  Jesus  by  his  followers,  shows  what  the  person  must  have  been. 
They  put  the  Person  before  the  thing,  the  fact  above  the  Idea.  But  it 
is  not  about  vulgar  men  that  such  mythical  stories  are  told.  See 
Paulus,  Leben  Jesu ;  1828.  Furness,  Jesus  and  his  Biographers. 
Strauss,  Leben  Jesu;  4th  ed.  1840.  English  Tr.  of  Strauss;  1846. 
Hase,  Leben  Jesu;  3d  ed.  1840.  Theile,  Zur  Biographie  Jesu;  1837. 
Weisse,  Evangelische  Geschichte ;  1838.  Gfrorer,  Urchristenthum, 
etc.;  1836.  Hennel,  Inquiry  concerning  the  Origin  of  Christianity; 
Lond.  1838.  Harwood,  German  Anti-supernaturalism ;  Lond.  1840. 
See  the  voluminous  replies  to  Strauss  by  Tholuck,  Neander,  Ebrard, 
Lange,  Harless,  etc.  etc.  See  the  valuable  paper  of  Dr.  Kling  on  re- 
cent Apologetic  Literature  of  the  N.  T.  in  Stud,  und  Krit.  for  Oct. 
1846,  p.  953,  et  seq.  Norton,  ubi  sup.  Yol.  II.  p.  CLIV.,  considers  it 
an  "  unquestionable  fact,  that  the  words  of  our  Saviour  are  not  always 
reported  ivith  perfect  correctness."  See  too  p.  CLXII.  CXCIII.  and 
Vol.  I.  p.  LIX.  LXI.,  et  seq. 

See  the  recent  works  of  Ewald,  F.  C.  Baur,  Kbstlin,  Schwegler, 
Zeller,  Hilgenfeld,  Anger,  Lekebusch,  Luthardt,  Meyer,  Lechler, 
Hase,  Ritschl,  Volckmar,  and  Norton,  on  matters  pertaining  to  this 
subject.  Zeller's  Theologische  Jahrbiicher,  (Tiib.  1842,  et  seq.,)  and 
Ewald's  Jahrbiicher  der  Biblischen  Wissenschaft,  (Gbtt.  1849,  et  seq.,) 
abound  in  valuable  materials.  The  new  edition  of  the  Clementine 
Homilies,  (Dressell,  Gott.  1853,)  containing  matter  not  published  be- 
fore, and  the  various  books  of  Bunsen,  Baur,  Petermann,  Cureton, 
and  others,  relating  to  the  Ignatian  writings,  and  the  work  ascribed  to 
Hippolytus,  with  the  controversial  writings  thereon,  all  throw  light  on 
the  subjects  of  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  RELIGIOUS   AND   THEOLOGICAL   DOCTRINES    OF   JESUS. 

It  is  quite  plain  to  all  impartial  students,  that  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  did  not  teach  that  complicated  system  of 
theological  doctrines  now  called  "  Christianity :  "  that 
is  the  growth  of  the  ages  after  him.  But  yet  it  is  not 
easy,  or  perhaps  possible,  to  determine  what  doctrines 
he  taught  on  all  important  matters.  For  when  we  turn 
away  from  the  sects  of  the  Christian  Church,  we  find  it 
difficult  to  obtain  the  exact  words  of  Jesus  himself. 

There  are  two  collections  of  ancient  documents 
which  relate  to  his  life  and  teachings,  —  the  Canonical, 
and  the  Apocryphal  Gospels.  The  two  agree  in  their 
common  reverence  for  Jesus,  and  their  mythological 
treatment  of  his  life,  differing  only  in  degree  not  kind. 
Neither  collection  consists  of  simple  historical  docu- 
ments. The  Apocryphal  Gospels  are  of  small  value  for 
our  present  purpose,  though  highly  important  monu- 
ments of  the  age  when  such  weeds  grew  out  of  the 
soil  deeply  ploughed  by  Revolution  :  they  are  a  wild 
growth  of  fancy  and  religious  zeal,  yet  bear  doubtless 
some  historic  flowers.^ 

^  See  them  in  the  collections  of  Fabricius,  Codex  Apocryphus,  N.  T. 
3  vols.  8vo.;  Hamb.  1719.  Thilo,  Codex  Apoc.  N.  T.  vol.  I.;  Lips. 
1832.     Tischendorf,  De  Evang.  Apoc.  Origine  et  Usu;  Hag.  Com. 

(235) 


236  THE  RELIGIOUS   AND   THEOLOGICAL 

Of  the  Canonical  Gospels  after  impartial  study,  we 
must  reject  the  fourth,  as  of  scarcely  any  historical  value. 
It  appears  to  be  written  more  than  a  hundred  years 
after  the  birth  of  Jesus,  by  an  unknown  author,  who 
had  a  controversial  and  dogmatic  purpose  in  view,  not 
writing  to  report  facts  as  they  were  ;  so  he  invents 
actions  and  doctrines  to  suit  his  aim,  and  ascribes  them 
to  Jesus  with  no  authority  for  so  doing.  Yet  this 
Gospel,  ascribed  to  John,  one  of  the  Sons  of  Thunder 
who  appears  in  actual  history,  is  full  of  deep  religious 
feeling  and  thought,  —  in  this  its  value  consists,  not  at 
all  in  its  report  of  matters-of-fact. 

We  come  to  the  Synoptics;  it  is  by  no  means  clear 
when  they  were  written,  by  whom,  or  with  what  docu- 
mentary materials  of  history :  most  conflicting  results 
are  rested  in  by  different  scholars.  Fact  and  fiction  are 
mingled  together  in  all  these  three  Gospels  as  in  the 
Apocryphal.  Calling  them  by  the  names  of  their 
alleged  Authors,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  the  first  seems 
to  be  the  oldest  of  all ;  Luke  appears  to  come  next  in 
order;  while  Mark  mediates  between  the  two.  But 
some  critics  place  Mark  before  Luke  in  time. 

These  three  follow  the  same  general  tradition  respect- 
ing the  life,  actions,  and  doctrines  of  Jesus,  wherein 
they  differ  widely  and  irreconcilably  from  John.  But 
the  individual  differences  between  the  accounts  of  Mat- 
thew and  Luke  are  equally  remarkable  and  irreconcilable. 
In  Matthew  Jesus  forbids  his  disciples  to  visit  the  Gen- 
tiles or  the  Samaritans,  while  in  Luke  he  does  miracles 

1851.  Evang.  Apoc;  Lips.  1853.  Acta  Apostol.  Apoc;  ih.  1851. 
See  also  Hoffman,  Das  Leben  Jesu  nach  den  Apocrj'plien ;  Leip. 
1851.  And  see  who  will,  Gesch.  des  Eabbi  Jeschua  Ben  Josef 
hanootsri;  Altona,  1853.  See  Fabricius,  Codex  Pseudepig.  V.  T 
2  vol.  8vo.;  Hamb.  1724. 


DOCTRINES   OF  JESUS.  237 

in  Samaria ;  and  the  model  of  Christian  excellence  was 
found  in  that  despised  land.  Luke  relates  the  story  of 
the  Good  Samaritan,  and  the  Prodigal  Son,  —  both 
probably  founded  on  facts  well  known  at  the  time, — 
which  Matthew  fails  to  report,  and  which  Mark  also 
neglects  to  copy  into  his  compromising  Gospel.  If 
these  two  grand  lessons  of  Religion  came  from  Jesus, 
as  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt,  then  what  can  be 
said  for  the  historic  fairness,  or  the  competence,  of  the 
two  biographers  who  omit  such  important  facts  ? 
Either  that  they  were  grossly  ignorant  of  his  doctrines, 
or  else  culpably  unjust.  If  Luke  invented  these  noble 
passages,  then  the  blame  rests  on  him  for  violating  the 
truth  of  history  by  putting  their  beauty  and  sublimity 
upon  one  who  had  no  claim  thereto. 

These  facts  show  the  difficulty  of  reconstructing  the 
doctrines  of  Jesus:  for  if  one  Gospel  be  taken  as  the 
historic  standard,  then  much  of  the  others  must  be 
thrown  away.  The  results  attained  will  depend  on  the 
subjective  peculiarities  of  the  inquirer,  and  so  have  the 
uncertainty  of  mere  opinion,  not  the  stability  of  historic 
knowledge.  Even  Matthew  presents  us  with  passages 
so  inconsistent  that  the  fragmentary  character  of  this 
old  Gospel  becomes  clear  to  the  careful  scholar.^ 

Jesus,  a  young  man  full  of  genius  for  Religion,  seems 
to  have  begun  his  public  career  with  the  narrow  aim  of 
reforming  Judaism.  He  would  put  all  human  Piety 
and  Morality  into  the  venerable  forms  of  Jewish  tradi- 
tion. He  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil  the  Mosaic 
Law  ;  that  was  eternal ;  —  his  followers  were  to  observe 
and  teach  all  the  customs  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  ; 

^  Hilgenfeld  tries  to  make  out  two  main  documents  which  form  the 
bulk  of  this  Gospel,  p.  106,  et  seq. 


238  THE   RELIGIOUS   AND    THEOLOGICAL 

the  sick  man  on  recovery  must  offer  the  Levitical  sacri- 
fice. Like  John  the  Baptist  he  preaches  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  He  would 
not  labor  for  Mankind  but  only  for  the  children  of 
Israel  —  for  it  is  not  meet  to  give  the  dogs  the  children's 
bread.  But  as  he  went  on  he  found  his  new  wine  of 
Piety  and  Humanity  burst  the  old  wine-skins  of 
Judaism  ;  the  old  garments  which  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees had  inherited  from  dead  prophets  could  not  be 
patched  with  new  Philanthropy,  and  the  nation  be 
thereby  clothed  withal.  He  gradually  breaks  with 
Judaism,  neglects  the  ceremonial  fast,  violates  the 
Sabbath,  speaks  evil  of  the  clerical  dignities  —  they 
are  covered  pits  in  the  highway,  whereinto  men  fall 
and  perish.  He  claims  himself  to  be  the  Messiah  ; 
John  the  Baptist  was  the  Elias  who  was  to  come  and 
make  ready.  He  had  political  plans  that  lie  there 
indistinctly  seen  through  the  mythic  cloud  which  wraps 
the  whole.  He  reaches  beyond  Judea  to  Samaria  at 
least,  perhaps  to  other  nations,  and  develops  his  religious 
scheme  more  freely  than  at  first. 

Religion  is  no  longer  fettered  by  conventional  re- 
straint ;  it  is  Love  to  God,  Love  to  man  :  on  this  hang 
all  the  Law  and  the  Prophets.  There  must  be  no  re- 
venge, but  continual  forgiveness,  seventy  times  seven. 
In  the  next  stage  of  life  a  man's  eternal  condition  de- 
pends wholly  on  his  natural  morality  and  humanity  in 
this.^  His  commands  and  requisitions  related  to  moral 
conduct,  not  belief  or  liturgical  ceremonies  ;  God  prefer- 
ring goodness  to  sacramental  forms.^  He  puts  the  sub- 
stance of  religion  before  its  accidents,  and  utters  mag- 
nificent beatitudes  of  Piety  and  Humanity. 

^Math.  XXn.  34-40,  XXV.  14-30,  34-46,  et  al  and  parallels. 
'^Math.  IX.  13,  XXIII.  23,  et  passim. 


DOCTRINES   OF  JESUS.  239 

Bat  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  conscious  of 
the  Infinite  Perfection  of  God,  for  though  he  calls  Him 
our  Father,  and  insists  on  Absolute  Love  for  God, 
which  certainly  seems  to  imply  a  Feeling  of  his  Perfec- 
tion, yet  he  considers  God  so  imperfect  as  to  damn 
the  majority  of  men  to  eternal  torment.^  Beside  God 
he  places  a  Devil  absolutely  evil,  the  adversary  of  God 
and  enemy  of  man.  Hell  is  eternal,  and  the  wide  road 
thereto  is  ti'a veiled  well. 

He  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah  spoken  of  by  the 
writers  of  the  Old  Testament,  John  the  Baptist,  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  him,  was  equal  to  the  greatest  of  men, 
but  the  least  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  greater 
than  John.  Men  must  believe  that  he  is  the  Messiah, 
and  confess  him  before  men  or  suffer  future  torment ;  in 
the  day  of  judgment  the  cities  which  rejected  his  claim 
would  fare  worse  than  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  while 
men  who  believed  and  followed  him  would  have  im- 
mense power  and  glory .^  A  great  crisis,  or  revolution, 
is  soon  to  take  place,  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  to  estab- 
lish the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  the  time  is  near  but  yet 
still  uncertain ;  he  himself  knows  not  the  day  and  hour.^ 
But  he  is  already  highly  exalted,  greater  than  the  Sab- 
bath and  the  Temple,  all  things  are  given  to  him  by  the 
Father  whom  he  alone  knows,  and  by  whom  alone  he 
is  directly  known.* 

In  this  new  state  of  things  all  temporal  and  material 
cares  were  to  cease,  so  he  bids  men   not  lay  up  treas- 


^  Math.  XXV.  46,  VII.  13-14,  XIII.  37-42,  49-50,  et  al. 
^Math.  X.  32-35,  37-39, XL  20-24,  XVI.  14-20,  24-28,  XIX.  27- 
30,  et  al.  parallels. 
3  Math.  X.  5-15,  23-34,  XXIV.  et  al. 
*  Math.  Xn.  1-8,  XI.  25-27,  et  al.  parallels. 


240  THE  EELIGIOUS  AND   THEOLOGICAL 

ures  on  earth,  but  only  in  Heaven ;  to  take  no  thought 
for  life  what  they  should  eat,  or  drink,  or  wherewithal 
be  clad;  for  if  they  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
its  righteousness  all  these  things  will  be  added,  and 
they  be  fed  like  the  wild  birds,  and  clothed  as  the  lilies 
are.  If  God  care  for  grass  and  sparrows  so  will  he 
much  more  for  them,  and  give  good  things  to  such  as 
ask  him.^  If  brought  to  trial  before  magistrates  for  at- 
tempting to  establish  this  Kingdom,  they  must  take  no 
thought  for  defence,  for  it  will  be  given  them  at  the  mo- 
ment what  they  shall  say  ;  it  is  not  they  but  God  who 
speaks,  only  through  them. 

Yet  spite  of  these  obvious  defects  in  his  scheme  of 
doctrine,  which  ought  not  to  astonish  us  or  to  be  de- 
nied, there  is  such  a  deep,  fresh,  manly  piety  in  his 
teachings,  such  love  for  man  under  all  circumstances, 
poor,  oppressed,  despised,  and  sinful,  as  we  find  no- 
where else  in  the  whole  compass  of  antiquity.  God  is 
a  Father  even  to  the  Prodigal,  goes  out  after  him,  falls 
on  his  neck  with  welcoming  delight  that  the  lost  is 
found,  and  the  dead  come  back  alive  once  more.  Men 
are  to  be  brothers,  each  neighbor  to  all  mankind:  the 
greatest  is  to  serve  the  least;  even  enemies  must  be  for- 
given seventy  times  seven,  and  prayed  for  spite  of  their 
active  cursing.  According  to  one  biographer,  on  the 
cross  he  prayed  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do." 

But  this  synoptical  doctrine  alone  was  felt  to  be  inade- 
quate to  the  wants  of  Man  ;  so  many  other  gospels  were 
written  which  were  variously  received  and  found  ac- 
ceptance with  the  great  writers  of  the  Christian  Church 

^Math.  VI.  19-21,  24-34,  VIL  7-11,  XVIII.  18-19,  XIX.  21-24. 


DOCTRINES    OF   JESUS.  241 

till  the  third  and  fourth  century.^  The  fourth  canonical 
Gospel  contains  much  which  is  fair  and  good  but  utterly 
foreign  to  the  other  three  ;  yet  while  free  from  Jewish 
limitation  other  new  restrictions  are  therein  put  on  the 
free  development  of  Religion  :  men  must  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Messiah  and  the  Logos.  No  doubt  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  in  the  Synoptics,  was  thought  too 
external  and  exclusively  practical  by  some,  and  the 
fourth  Gospel,  with  divers  others,  was  written  to  supply 
a  conscious  want.  The  Epistles  of  Paul  betray  the 
same  thing. 

To  sum  up  the  main  points  of  the  matter  more 
briefly ;  in  an  age  of  gi'oss  wickedness,  among  a  people 
arrogant,  and  proud  of  their  descent  from  Abraham  — 
a  mythological  character  of  some  excellence ;  wedded 
to  the  ritual  Law,  which  they  professed  to  have  re- 
ceived, by*  miracle  from  God,  through  Moses  —  another 
and  greater  mythological  hero  —  in  a  nation  of  Mono- 
theists,  haughty  yet  cunning,  morose,  jealous,  vindictive, 
loving  the  little  corner  of  space,  called  Judea,  above  all 
the  rest  of  the  world  ;  fancying  themselves  the  "chosen 
people  "  and  special  favorites  of  God  ;  in  the  midst  of 
a  nation  wedded  to  their  forms,  sunk  in  ignorance,  pre- 
cipitated into  sin,  and,  still  more,  expecting  a  Deliverer, 
who  would  repel  their  political  foes,  reunite  the  scattered 
children  of  Jacob,  and  restore  them  to  power,  conquer 
all  nations,  reestablish  the  formal  service  of  the  Temple 
in  all  its  magnificent  pomp,  and  exalt  Jerusalem  above 
all  the  cities  of  the  earth  forever,  —  amid  all  this,  and 

^  See  how  they  were  used  by  Tatlan,  whose  Diatessaron  was  a  Dia- 
pente,  Justin  Martyr,  Ignatius,  the  Clements  of  Rome  and  Alex- 
andria, Origen,  etc.  The  lost  work  of  Papias  would  doubtless  settle 
many  curious  questions.  See  Credner's  Beitrage,  and  Ewald  in  his 
Jahrbiicher,  B.  V.  p.  62,  et  seq. 

21 


242  JESUS   HIS   NATION   AND    TIMES. 

the  opposition  it  raised  to  a  spiritual  man,  Jesus  fell  , 
back  on  the  moral  and  religious  Sentiment  in  Man  ; 
uttered  manifold  Oracles  of  Humanity,  as  the  Infinite 
spoke  in  his  noble  soul ;  stirred  men  to  deep  emotions  ; 
laid  down  some  principles  of  conduct  wide  as  the  Soul 
of  man  and  true  as  eternal  God  ;  taught  a  form  of  Re- 
ligion,—  Piety  and  Morality,  —  far  before  any  thing 
known  then  to  the  world  of  men  ;  but  yet  mistook  him- 
self for  that  miraculous  and  impossible  deliverer  of 
his  nation  whom  the  people  waited  for  in  vain. 

In  an  age  full  of  vengeance  he  makes  Love  the  pivotal 
Principle  which  all  things  must  turn  upon.  Take  one 
example  as  it  stands  in  the  Synoptics.  A  man  asks 
what  he  shall  do  to  fulfil  the  idea  of  Man,  and  have 
"  eternal  life  ? "  He  bids  him  keep  the  moral  law, 
written  eternally  in  the  nature  of  Man  ;  specifies  some 
of  its  plainest  prohibitions,  and  adds,  Love  ypur  neigh- 
bor as  yourself.  When  asked  the  greatest  command- 
ment of  the  Law,  he  thus  sums  up  all  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets  also  :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  • 
Here  is  the  sum  of  religious  doctrine.  He  gives  the 
highest  aim  for  man :  Be  perfect  as  God.  He  declares 
the  blessedness,  present  and  eternal,  of  such  as  do  the 
Will  of  God.  The  Spirit  of  God  shall  be  in  them,  re- 
vealing Truth  ;  the  Kingdom  of  God  shall  be  theirs. 

He  gives  no  extended  form  of  his  views  in  Theology, 
Anthropology,  Politics,  or  Philosophy.  But  the  great 
truth  of  God's  goodness,  and  man's  spiritual  nature, 
are  implied  in  all  his  teachings.  He  says  litde  of  the 
Immortality  of  the  Soul ;  much  less  than  some  "  Hea- 
thens "  before  him ;  but  it  is  everywhere  implied;  As 
the  doctrine  was  familiar,  he  dwells  little  upon  it. 


PRACTICAL   LOVE    OF    GOD.  243 

It  is  vain  to  deny,  or  attempt  to  conceal,  the  errors  in 
his  doctrine,  —  a  revengeful  God,  a  Devil  absolutely 
evil,  an  eternal  Hell,  a  speedy  end  of  the  world ;  but  the 
actual  superiority  of  the  mode  of  Religion  he  taught, 
its  sublime  faith  in  God,  its  profound  Humanity,  seem 
also  as  clear  as  the  noonday  sun. 

Such,  then,  is  the  religious  doctrine  of  Jesus.  It  was 
always  taught  with  direct  application  to  life  ;  not  as 
Science,  but  as  daily  Duty.  Love  of  God  was  no  ab- 
straction. It  implied  love  of  Wisdom,  Justice,  Purity, 
Goodness,  Holiness,  Charity.  To  love  these  is  to  love 
God ;  to  love  them  is  to  live  them.  It  implies  abhorrence 
of  evil  for  its  own  sake ;  a  desire  and  effort  to  be  per- 
fect as  God,  to  tolerate  no  wrong  action,  wrong  thought, 
or  wrong  feeling;  to  make  the  heart  right,  the  head 
right,  the  hand  right ;  to  serve  God,  not  with  the  lips 
alone,  but  the  life,  not  only  in  Jerusalem  and  Gerizim, 
but  everywhere ;  not  by  tithing  mint,  anise,  and  cumin, 
but  by  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith;  not  by  saying 
^'  Lord,  Lord,"  "  Save  us,  good  Lord,"  but  by  doing 
the  Father's  will.  It  implies  a  Faith  that  is  stronger 
than  Fear,  prevails  over  every  sorrow,  grief,  disappoint- 
ment, and  asks  only  this  —  Thy  will  be  done  ;  a  Love 
which  is  strongest  in  times  of  trouble,  which  never  fails 
when  mere  human  affection  goes  stooping  and  feeble, 
weeping  its  tears  of  blood ;  a  Love  which  annihilates 
temptation,  and  in  the  hour  of  mortal  agony  brings  as 
it  were  an  angel  from  the  sky;  an  absolute  Trust  in 
God,  a  brave  unconcern  for  the  morrow,  so  long  as  the 
day's  duties  are  faithfully  done.  It  is  a  love  of  Good- 
ness and  Religion  for  their  own  sake,  not  for  the  bribe 
of  Heaven,  or  the  dread  of  Hell.  It  implies  a  reunion 
of  Man  and  God,  till  we  think  God's  thought,  and  will 


244  PRACTICAL   LOVE    OF   MAN. 

God's  will,  and  so  have  God  abiding  in  us,  and  become 
one  with  Him. 

The  other  doctrine,  Love  of  Man,  is  Love  of  all  as 
yourself,  not  because  they  have  no  faults,  but  in  spite 
thereof.  To  feel  no  enmity  towards  enemies  ;  to  labor 
for  them  with  love  ;  pray  for  them  with  pitying  affec- 
tion, remembering  the  less  they  deserve,  the  more  they 
need  ;  this  was  the  doctrine  of  Love.  It  demands  that 
the  rich,  the  wise,  the  holy,  help  the  poor,  the  foolish, 
the  sinful ;  that  the  strong  bear  the  burdens  of  the 
weak,  not  bind  them  on  anew.  It  tells  a  man  that  his 
excellence  and  ability  are  not  for  himself  alone,  but  for 
all  mankind,  of  which  he  is  but  one,  beginning  first 
with  the  nearest  of  the  needy.  It  makes  the  strong  the 
guardians,  not  the  tyrants  of  the  weak.  It  said :  Go 
to  the  publicans  and  sinners,  and  call  them  to  repent- 
ance ;  go  to  men  trodden  down  by  the  hoof  of  the 
oppressor,  rebuke  him  lovingly,  but  snatch  the  spoil 
from  his  bloody  teeth ;  go  to  men  sick  with  desolati.on, 
covered  all  over  with  the  leprosy  of  sin,  bowed  together 
and  squalid  with  their  inveterate  disease,  bid  them  live 
and  sin  no  more.  It  despairs  of  no  man ;  sees  the  soul 
of  goodness  in  things  evil;  knows  the  soul  in  its 
intimate  recess  never  consents  to  sin,  nor  loves  the 
Hateful.  It  would  improve  men's  circumstances  to 
mend  their  heart ;  their  heart  to  mend  their  circum- 
stances. It  does  not  say  alone,  with  piteous  whine  — 
God  save  the  wicked  and  the  weak,  but  puts  its  own 
shoulder  to  the  work ;  divides  its  raiment  and  shares  its 
loaf. 

To  say  all,  in  brief,  these  two  cardinal  doctrines  de- 
manded a  DIVINE  LIFE,  where  every  action  of  the  hand, 
the  head,  the  heart,  is  in  obedience  to  the  Law  of  the 


BAPTISM    AND    THE    SUPPER.  245 

Soul ;  in  harmony  with  the  All-perfect.  This  was 
Christ's  notion  of  worship.  It  asked  for  nothing  ritual, 
formal ;  laid  no  stress  on*  special  days,  forms,  rites, 
creeds.  Its  rite,  its  creed,  its  substance  and  its  form,  are 
all  contained  in  that  one  command,  love  man  as  your- 
self ;  God  above  all.  None  can  say,  or  need  suppose, 
that  Jesus  consciously  intended  all  the  consequences 
which  we  see  resulting  from  these  principles,  or  that  he 
even  foresaw  the  effects  thereof,  more  than  Monk 
Schwarz  expected  the  results  of  his  invention. 

Thus  far  the  application  was  universal  as  the  doc- 
trine. But  he  taught  something  which  is  ritual.  Bap- 
tism and  the  Supper.  The  first  was  a  common  rite  at 
the  time,  used  even  by  the  "  heathens."  In  a  nation 
dwelling  in  a  warm  climate,  and  so  fond  of  symbols  as 
the  Jews,  it  was  a  natural  expression  of  the  convert's 
change  of  life.  Sensual  men  must  interpret  their 
Religion  to  the  senses,  as  the  Hollanders  have  their 
Bible  in  Dutch.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  accommoda- 
tion to  the  wants  of  the  times,  as  he  spoke  the  popular 
language.  Did  he  lay  any  stress  on  this  watery  dis- 
pensation;  count  it  valuable  of  itself?  Then  we  must 
drop  a  tear  for  the  weakness ;  for  no  outward  act  can 
change  the  heart,  and  God  is  not  to  be  mocked,  pleased, 
or  served  with  a  form.  Is  there  any  reason  to  suppose 
he  ever  designed  it  to  be  permanent  ?  It  is  indeed  said 
that  he  bade  the  disciples  teach  all  nations,  "  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son  and 
the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  But  since  the  Apostles  never  men- 
tion the  command,  nor  the  form,  since  it  is  opposite  to 
the  general  spirit  of  his  precepts,  it  must  be  put  with 

^  Math.  XXVin.  19,  and  the  parallels. 
21* 


246  BAPTISM   AND   THE   SUPPEK. 

the  many  other  things  which  are  to  be  examined  with 
much  care  before  they  are  referred  to  him.  But  if  it 
came  from  him,  we  can  only  say,  There  is  no  perfect 
Guide  but  the  Father. 

The  second  form^  —  was  it  of  more  account  than  the 
first  ?  Who  shall  tell  us  the  "  Lord's  Supper "  was 
designed  to  be  permanent  more  than  washing  the  feet, 
if  that  be  a  fact,  which  the  Pope  likewise  imitates? 
Did  he  place  any  value  on  the  dispensation  of  wine; 
design  it  to  extend  beyond  the  company  then  present? 
If  we  may  trust  the  account,  he  asks  his  friends,  at 
supper,  to  remember  him,  when  they  break  bread.  It 
was  simple,  natural,  affectionate,  beautiful.  Was  this 
a  foundation  of  a  form  ;  to  last  forever ;  a  form  valuable 
in  itself;  essential  to  man's  spiritual  welfare;  a  form 
pleasing  to  Him  who  is  All  in  All  ?  To  say  Jesus  laid 
any  stress  on  it  as  a  valuable  and  perpetual  rite  is,  to 
go  beyond  what  is  written.  It  needs  no  reply.  The 
thing  may  be  useful,  beautiful,  comforting  to  a  million 
souls ;  truly  it  has  been  so.  In  Christianity  there  is 
milk  for  babes  and  meat  for  men,  that  the  truth  may  be 
given  as  they  can  receive  it.  Let  each  be  fed  with  the 
Father's  bounty.^ 

*  In  the  first  edition  I  inserted  here  these  lines :  — 

"  Behold  the  child  by  nature's  kindly  law, 
Pleased  with  a  rattle,  tickled  with  a  straw  ; 
Some  livelier  plaything  gives  his  youth  delight, 
A  little  louder,  but  as  empty  quite." 

The  thought  I  wished  to  express  was  this :  The  two  ordinances,  in 
comparison  with  a  religious  life  and  character,  are  no  more  than  the 
rattles  and  straws  of  a  child,  compared  with  the  attainments  of  an 
accomplished  man  ;  it  is  a  beautiful  feature  of  God's  Providence  that 
things  in  themselves  of  no  value,  can  yet  serve  so  impoi'tant  a  purpose 
as  the  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  development  of  a  man.     The 


BAPTISM    AND    THE    SUPPER.  247 

words  were  understood  in  a  very  diifferent  sense  —  sometimes  even  by 
my  Friends.  I  omitted  them  in  the  English  edition  —  for  the  pub- 
lisher at  first  designed  to  have  no  notes  in  that,  and  I  did  not  wish  to 
reprint,  without  explanation,  what  had  been  so  much  misunderstood 
before. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   AUTHORITY   OP  JESUS,   ITS   REAL   AND    PRETENDED 

SOURCE. 

On  what  authority  did  Jesus  teach  ?  On  that  of 
the  most  high  God,  as  he  expressly  states,  and  often. 
But  to  have  the  authority  of  Go'd,  is  not  that  miracu- 
lous ?  How  can  man  have  God's  authority  in  the  nat- 
ural way  ?     Let  us  look  at  the  matter. 

I.    The  only  Authority  of  a  Doctrine  is  its  Truth. 

Truth  is  the  relation  of  things  as  they  are ;  falsehood 
as  they  are  not.  No  doctrine  can  have  a  higher  con- 
demnation than  to  be  convicted  of  falsehood ;  none  a 
higher  authority  than  to  be  proved  true.  God  is  the 
author  of  things  as  they  are ;  therefore  of  this  relation, 
and  therefore  of  Truth.  He  that  delivers  the  Truth 
then  has  so  far  the  authority  of  Truth's  God.  Then  it 
will  be  asked,  How  do  we  know  Christianity  is  true,  or 
that  it  is  our  duty  to  love  Man  and  God  ?  Now  when 
it  is  asked.  How  do  I  know  that  I  exist ;  that  doubting 
is  doubting ;  that  half  is  less  than  the  whole ;  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  same  thing  to  be  and  not  to  be  ?  the 

(248) 


KNOWLEDGE    OF   RELIGIOUS   DUTY.  249 

questioner  is  set  down  as  a  strange  man.  But  it  has 
somehow  come  to  pass,  that  he  is  reckoned  a  very 
acute  and  Christian  person,  who  doubts  moral  and 
religious  axioms,  and  asks,  How  do  I  know  that  Right 
is  right,  and  Wrong  wrong,  and  Goodness  good  ?  Alas, 
there  are  men  among  the  Christians,  who  place  virtue 
and  religion  on  a  lower  ground  than  Aristippus  and 
Democritus,  men  branded  as  Heathens  and  Atheists. 
Let  us  know  what  we  are  about 

It  was  said  above,^  there  are,  practically,  four  sources 
of  knowledge  —  direct  and  indirect,  primary  and  secon- 
dary, —  namely.  Perception  for  sensible  things  ;  Intui- 
tion for  spiritual  things ;  Reflection  for  logical  things ; 
and  Testimony  for  historical  things.  If  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  are  eternal  truths,  they  are  not  sensible 
things,  not  historical  things,  and  of  course  do  not  de- 
pend on  sensual  perception,  nor  historical  testimony, 
but  can  be  presented  directly  to  the  consciousness  of 
men  at  one  age  as  well  as  another,  and  thus  if  they  are 
matters  of  reflection,  may  be  made  plain  to  all  who 
have  the  reflective  faculty  and  will  use  it ;  if  they  are 
matters  of  intuition,  to  all  who  have  the  intuitive  fac- 
ulty, and  will  let  it  act.  Now  the  duty  we  owe  to 
Man,  that  of  loving  him  as  ourselves  ;  the  duty  we  owe 
to  God,  that  of  loving  him  above  all,  is  a  matter  of  in- 
tuition ;  it  proceeds  from  the  very  nature  of  Man  and 
is  inseparable  from  that  nature  ;  we  recognize  the  truth 
of  the  precept  as  soon  as  it  is  stated,  and  see  the  truth  of 
it  soon  as  the  unprejudiced  mind  looks  that  way.  It 
is  no  less  a  matter  of  reflection  likewise.  He  that  re- 
flects on  the  Idea  of  God  as  given  by  intuition,  on  his 
own  nature  as  he  learns  it  from  his  mental  operations, 

'  Book  III.  ch.  n. 


250  TRUTH  ETERNALLY  TRUE. 

sees  that  this  twofold  duty  flows  logically  from  these 
premises.  The  truth  of  these  doctrines,  then,  may  be 
known  by  both  intuition  and  reflection.  He  that 
teaches  a  doctrine  eternafly  true,  does  not  set  forth  a 
private  and  peculiar  thing  resting  on  private  authority 
and  historical  evidence,  but  an  everlasting  reality,  which 
rests  on  the  ground  of  all  truth,  the  public  and  eternal 
authority  of  unchanging  God.  A  false  doctrine  is  not 
of  God.  It  has  no  background  of  Godhead.  It  rests 
on  the  authority  of  Simon  Peter  or  Simon  Magus ;  of 
him  that  sets  it  forth.  It  is  his  private,  personal  prop- 
erty. When  the  Devil  speaks  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of 
his  own  ;  but  when  a  Son  of  God  speaks  the  truth,  he 
speaks  not  his  own  word  but  the  Father's.  Must  a  man 
indorse  God's  word  to  make  it  current  ? 

Again,  if  the  truth  of  any  doctrines  rest  on  the  per- 
sonal authority  of  Jesus,  it  was  not  a  duty  to  observe 
them  before  he  spoke ;  for  he,  being  the  cause,  or  indis- 
pensable occasion  of  the  duty,  to  make  the  effect  pre- 
cede the  cause  is  an  absurdity  too  great  for  modern 
divines.  Besidies,  if  it  depends  on  Jesus,  it  is  not 
eternally  true ;  a  religious  doctrine  that  was  not  true 
and  binding  yesterday,  may  become  a  lie  again  by  to- 
morrow ;  if  not  eternally  true,  it  is  no  truth  at  all. 
Absolute  truth  is  the  same  always  and  everywhere. 
Personal  authority  adds  nothing  to  a  mathematical  de- 
monsti'ation  ;  can  it  more  to  a  moral  intuition  ?  Can 
authority  alter  the  relation  of  things  ?  A  voice  speak- 
ing from  Heaven,  and  working  more  wonders  than 
^sop  and  the  Saints,  or  Moses  and  the  Sibyl,  relate, 
cannot  make  it  our  duty  to  hate  God,  or  Man  ;  no  such 
voice  can  add  any  new  obligation  to  the  law  God  wrote 
in  us. 

When  it  is  said  the  doctrines  of  Religion,  like  the 


TRUTH   STANDS   THOUGH    GOSPELS   FALL.  iCi 

truth  of  Science,  rest  on  their  own  authority,  or  that 
of  unchanging  God,  they  are  then  seen  to  stand  on  the 
highest  and  safest  ground  that  is  possible  —  the  ground 
of  absolute  truth.  Then  if  all  the  Evangelists  and 
Apostles  were  liars ;  if  Jesus  were  mistaken  in  a  thou- 
sand things ;  if  he  were  a  hypocrite ;  yes,  if  he  never 
lived,  but  the  New  Testament  were  a  sheer  forgery 
from  end  to  end,  these  doctrines  are  just  the  same,  ab- 
solute truth. 

.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  these  depend  on  the  in- 
fallible authority  of  Jesus,  then  if  he  were  mistaken  in 
any  one  point  his  authority  is  gone  in  all ;  if  the  Evan- 
gelists were  mistaken  in  any  one  point,  we  can  never  be 
certain  we  have  the  words  of  Jesus  in  a  particular  case, 
and  then  where  is  "  historical  Christianity  ?  " 

Now  it  is  a  most   notorious  fact,  that  the   Apostles 
and  Evangehsts  were  greatly  mistaken  in  some  points. 
It  is  easy  to  show,  if  we  have  the  exact  words  of  Jesus, 
that  he  also  was  mistaken  in  some  points  of  the  great- 
est magnitude  —  in  the  character  of  God,  the  existence 
of  the  Devil,  the  eternal  damnation  of  men,  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  the   Old  Testament,  in  the  doctrine  of 
demons,  in  the  celebrated  prediction  of  his  second  com- 
ing and  the  end  of  the  world,  within  a  few  years.     If 
Religion  or  Christianity  rest  on  his  authority,  and  that 
alone,  it  falls  when  the  foundation  falls,  and  that  stands 
at  the  mercy  of  a  school-boy.     If  he  is  not  faithful  in 
the  unrighteous  mammon,  who  shall  commit  to  him  the 
true  riches  ? 

II.  Of  the  Authority  derived  from  the  alleged  Miracles 

of  Jesus, 

Of  late  years  it  has  been  unpopular  with  theological 
writers  to  rest  the  authority  of  Christianity  on  its  truth. 


252  THE   BASIS   OF  MIRACLES. 

and  not  its  truth  on  its  authority.  It  must  be  confessed 
there  is  some  inconvenience  in  the  case,  for  if  this 
method  of  trusting  Truth  alone  and  not  Authority  be 
followed,  by  and  by  some  things  which  have  much  Au- 
thority and  no  Truth  to  support  them,  may  come  to  the 
ground.  The  same  thing  took  place  in  the  middle 
ages,  when  Abelard  looked  into  Theology,  explaining 
and  defending  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  by 
Keason.  The  Church  said,  If  you  commend  the  Rea- 
sonable as  such,  you  must  condemn  the  Not-Reasona- 
ble,  and  then  where  are  we  ?  A  significant  question 
truly.  So  the  Church  "  cried  out  upon  him  "  as  a  here- 
tic, because  he  trusted  Reason  more  than  a  blind  belief 
in  the  traditions  of  men,  which  the  Church  has  long  had 
the  impudence  to  call  "  Faith  in  God."  It  is  often 
said,  in  our  times,  that  Christianity  rests  on  miracles  ; 
that  the  authority  of  the  miracle-worker  authenticates 
his  doctrine ;  if  a  teacher  can  raise  the  dead,  he  must 
have  a  commission  from  God  to  teach  true  doctrine  ; 
his  word  is  the  standard  of  truth.  Here  the  fact 
and  the  value  of  miracles  are  both  assumed  out- 
right. 

Now  if  it  could  be  shown  that  Christianity  rested  on 
Miracles,  or  had  more  or  less  connection  with  them,  it 
yet  proves  nothing  peculiar  in  the  case,  for  other  forms 
of  Religions,  fetichistic,  polytheistic,  and  monotheistic, 
appeal  to  the  same  authority.  If  a  nation  is  rude  and 
superstitious,  the  claim  to  miracles  is  the  more  common 
their  authority  the  greater.^     To   take  the  popular  no- 

^  See  a  curious  story  respecting  an  Eastern  Calif  and  his  decision 
between  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  Christians  and  Mahometans,  in 
Marco  Polo,  ed.  Marsden,  Book  I.  ch.  Vm.  p.  67-69.  See  also  Book 
n.  ch.  n.  p.  275,  et  seq. ;  Book  HI.  ch.  XX.  §  4,  p.  648,  et  seq.     See 


MIRACLES   IN   ALL  RELIGIONS.  253 

tion.  the  Jewish  Religion  began  in  miracles,  was  con- 
tinued, and  will  end  in  miracles.  The  Mahometan 
tells  us  the  Koran  is  a  miracle ;  its  author  had  miracu- 
lous inspiration,  visions,  and  revelations.  The  writings 
of  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Scandinavians  and 
the  Hindoos,  the  Chinese  and  Persians,  are  full  of  mira- 
cles. In  Fetichism  all  is  miracle,  and  its  authority, 
therefore,  the  best  in  the  world.  The  Catholic  Church 
and  the  Latter-day-Saints  still  claim  the  power  of  work- 
ing them,  and,  therefore,  of  authenticating  whatever 
they  will,  if  a  miracle  have  the  alleged  virtue. 

Now  in  resting  Christianity  on  this  basis  we  must 
do  one  of  two  things:  either,  first,  we  mast  admit  that 
Christianity  rests  on  the  same  foundation  with  the 
lowest  Fetichism,  but  has  less  divine  authority  than 
that,  for  if  miracles  constitute  the  authority,  then  that 
is  the  best  form  of  Religion  which  counts  the  most 
miracles;  or,  secondly,  we  must  deny  the  reality  of 
all  miracles  except  the  Christian,  in  order  to  give  ex- 
clusive sway  to  Christianity.  But  the  devotees  of  each 
other  form  will  retort  the  denial,  and  claim  exclusive 
credence  for  their  favorite  wonders.  The  serious  in- 
quirer will  ask.  If  such  be  the  Evidence,  what  is  Truth, 
and  how  shall  I  get  at  it?     And  if  he  does  not  stop  for 

the  numerous  miracles  collected  by  Valerius  Maximus  in  his  treatise, 
De  Prodigiis,  0pp.  ed.  Hase,  Vol.  I.  Lib.  I.  ch.  VI. ;  De  Somniis,  ch. 
Vn. ;  De'^  Mraculis,  ch.  VIII.  Julius  Obsequens,  Prodlgiorum,  Li- 
ber imperfectus :  Jo.  Laurenti  Lydi,  De  Ostentis,  Fragmenta,  passim, 
ad  cak\  0pp.  Val.  Max.  See  the  Incarnation  and  Ascension  of 
Budha,  in  Upham,  The  Mahavansi,  the  Raja  Ratnacari,  and  the  Raja- 
vah;  Lond.  1833,  Vol.  L  p.  1,  et  seq. :  for  miracles  and  marvels,  pas- 
sim. See  Spencer's  Discourse  concerning  Prodigies;  Lond.  1665. 
But  see  Trenck,  Notes  on  the  Miracles,  etc. ;  N.  Y.  1850,  p.  25,  et 
seq.  p.  75,  et  seq. 

22 


254      PROTESTANT  AND  CATHOLIC  MIRACLES. 

a  time  in  scepticism,  at  best  in  indifference,  why 
he  is  a  very  rare  man.  In  this  state  of  the  case 
theologians  have  felt  bound,  in  logic,  cither  to  prove 
the  superiority  of  Christian  miracles,  or  to  deny  all 
other  miracles.  The  first  method  is  not  possible, 
the  Hindoo  Priest  surpasses  the  Christian  in  the 
number,  and  magnitude  and  antiquity  of  his  mir- 
acles. The  second,  therefore,  is  the  only  method 
left.  Accordingly,  most  ingenious  attempts  have  been 
made  to  devise  some  test  which  will  spare  the  Chris- 
tian and  condemn  all  other  miracles.  The  Protestant 
saves  only  those  mentioned  in  the  Bible  ,  the  Catholic, 
more  consistently,  thinks  the  faculty  immanent  in  the 
Church,  and  claims  miracles  down  to  the  present  day. 
But  all  these  attempts  to  establish  a  suitable  criterion 
have  been  fruitless,  and  even  worse,  often  exposing 
more  than  the  folly  of  their  authors.^  However,  they 
who  argue  from  the  miracles  alone,  assume  two  things  ; 
first,  that  miracles  prove  the  divinity  of  a  doctrine  ; 
secondly,  that  they  were  wrought  in  connection  with 
the  Christian  doctrine.  If  one  ask  proof  of  these  sig- 
nificant premises,  it  is  not  easy  to  come  by.  This  sub- 
ject of  miracles  demands  a  careful  attention.  Here  are 
two  questions  to  be  asked.  First,  Are  miracles  pos- 
sible ?  Second,  Did  they  actually  occur  in  the  case  of 
Christianity  ? 

^  See  Douglas's  Criterion,  or  INIIracles  Examined  ;  Lond.  1754,  and 
Leslie's  Short  Method  with  the  Deists.  See  an  ingenious  illustra- 
tion of  the  folly  of  one  of  Leslie's  canons  in  Palfrey,  Academical 
Lectures,  etc.  Vol.  IT.  p.  150,  note  11.  See  Fehmelius  De  Criteriis 
Errorum  circa  Keligionem  communibus  ;  Lips.  1713,  1  Vol.  4to. 


DEFINITION    OF   A   MIRACLE.  255 


I.     Are  Miracles  possible  ? 

The  answer  depends  on  the  definition  of  the  term. 
The  point  we  are  to  reason  from  is  the  idea  of  God, 
who  must  be  the  cause  of  the  miracle.  Now  a  miracle 
is  one  of  three  things  :  — 

1.  It  is  a  transgression  of  all  law  which  God  has 
made ;  or, 

2.  A  transgression  of  all  known  laws,  but  obedience 
to  a  law  which  we  may  yet  discover  ;  or, 

3.  A  transgression  of  all  law  known  or  knowable  by 
man,  but  yet  in  conformity  with  some  law  out  of  our 
reach. 

1.  To  take  the  first  definition.  A  miracle  is  not  pos- 
sible, as  it  involves  a  contradiction.  The  infinite  God 
must  have  made  the  most  perfect  laws  possible  in 
the  nature  of  things  ;  it  is  absurd  and  self-contradictory 
to  suppose  the  reverse.  But  if  his  laws  are  perfect 
and  the  nature  of  things  unchangeable,  why  should 
he  alter  these  laws  ?  The  change  can  only  be  for  the 
worse.  To  suppose  he  does  this  is  to  accuse  God  of 
caprice.  If  he  be  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  phenomena 
and  laws  of  the  universe,  to  suppose  in  a  given  case 
he  changes  these  phenomena  and  laws,  is  either  to 
make  God  fickle  and  therefore  not  worthy  to  be  re- 
lied on ;  or  else  inferior  to  Nature,  of  which  he  is  yet 
the  cause. 

2.  To  take  the  second  definition.  It  is  no  miracle 
at  all,  but  simply  an  act,  which  at  first  we  cannot  un- 
derstand and  refer  to  the  process  of  its  causation.  The 
most  common  events,  such  as  growth,  vitality,  sensa- 
tion, affection,  thought,  are  miracles.  Besides,  the 
miracle  is  of  a  most  fluctuating  character.     The  mira- 


256  POSSIBILITY   OF   MIRACLES. 

cle- worker  of  to-day  is  a  matter-of-fact  juggler  to-mor- 
row. The  explosion  of  gunpowder,  the  production  of 
magnified  images  of  any  object,  the  phenomena  of  min- 
eral and  animal  magnetism,  are  miracles  in  one  age,  but 
common  things  in  the  next.  Such  wonders  prove  only 
the  skill  of  the  performer.  Science  each  year  adds  new 
wonders  to  our  store.  The  master  of  a  locomotive 
steam-engine  would  have  been  thought  greater  than 
Jupiter  Tonans  or  the  Elohim  thirty  centuries  ago. 

3.  To  take  the  third  hypothesis.  There  is  no  ante- 
cedent objection,  nor  metaphysical  impossibility  in  the 
case.  Finite  Man  not  only  does  not,  but  cannot  under- 
stand all  the  modes  of  God's  action ;  all  the  laws  of 
His  Being.  There  may  be  higher  beings,  to  whom 
God  reveals  himself  in  modes  that  we  can  never  know, 
for  we  cannot  tell  the  secrets  of  God,  nor  determine  a 
priori  the  modes  of  his  manifestation.  In  this  sense  a 
miracle  is  possible.  The  world  is  a  perpetual  miracle 
of  this  sort.  Nature  is  the  Art  of  God ;  can  we  fully 
comprehend  it  ?  Life,  Being,  Creation,  Duration,  do 
we  understand  these  actual  things  ?  How  then  can  we 
say  to  the  Infinite,  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no 
further;  there  are  no  more  ways  wherein  thy  Being 
acts  ?  1  Man  is  not  the  measure  of  God.  Let  us  use 
the  word  in  this  latter  sense. 


^  See  Babbage,  Ninth  Bridge  water  Treatise ;  Phila.  1841,  p.  VII. 
XXVI.  and  Sir  John  Herschel's  Letter  to  Mr.  Lyell  therein,  p.  212. 
Vestiges  of  Nat.  Hist,  of  Creation,  p.  145,  et  seq.  Pascal  has  some 
remarkable  speculations  on  Miracles.  Pensees,  P.  II.  Art.  16;  ed. 
Paris,  1839,  p.  323,  et  seq.  •  He  defines  a  miracle  as  an  effect  which 
exceeds  the  natural  force  of  the  means  employed  to  bring  it  about.  The 
non-miracle  is  an  effect  which  does  not  exceed  the  force,  p.  342.  He 
adds  they  who  effect  cures  by  the  invocation  of  the  De\'il,  work  no 
miracle,  for  that  does  not  exceed  the  Devil's  natural  power  !     A  fortiori^ 


OBJECTIONS   TO   THE   MIRACLES.  257 


II.   Did  Miracles  occur  in  the  case  of  Jesus  ? 

This  question  is  purely  historical ;  to  be  answered, 
like  all  other  historical  questions,  by  competent  testi- 
mony. Have  we  testimony  adequate  to  prove  the 
fact  ? 

Antecedent  to  all  experience  one  empirical  thing  is 
probable  as  another.  To  the  first  man,  with  no  experi- 
ence, birth  from  one  parent  is  no  more  surprising  than 
birth  from  two  ;  to  feed  five  men  with  five  ship-loads 
of  corn,  or  five  thousand  with  five  loaves ;  the  reproduc- 
tion of  an  arm,  or  a  finger  nail ;  the  awakening  from  a 
four  days'  death,  or  a  four  hours'  sleep  ;  to  change  water 
into  wine,  or  mineral  coal  into  burning  gas ;  the  descent 
into  the  sea,  or  the  ascent  into  the  sky ;  the  prediction 
of  a  future  or  the  memory  of  a  past  event ;  —  all  are 
alike,  one  as  credible  as  the  other.  But  to  take  our 
past  experience  of  the  nature  of  things,  the  case  wears 
a  different  aspect.  We  demand  more  evidence  for  a 
strange  than  a  common  thing.  From  the  very  consti- 
tution of  the  mind  a  prudent  man  supposes  that  the 
Laws  of  Nature  continue  ;  that  the  same  cause  produces 
always  the  same  effects,  if  the  circumstances  remain 
the  same.  If  it  were  related  to  us,  by  four  strangers 
who  had  crossed  the  ocean  in  the  same  vessel,  that  a 

it  is  impossible  for  God  to  work  a  miracle.  Leibnitz  has  some  strange 
remarks  on  this  subject  scattered  about  in  his  disorderly  writings. 
See  what  he  says  in  reply  to  M.  Bayle,  Theodicee.  Pt.  III.  §  248-9. 
See  too  p.  776,  ed.  Erdmann.  See  the  acute  remarks  of  Thomas 
Aquinas,  Summa  Theologise,  P.  I.  qu.  101,  et  seq.  See  Theol.  Quartal 
Schrift  (Tiibig.)  for  1845,  p.  265,  et  seq.  C.  F.  Ammon,  NoTa  Opus- 
cula  theologica  ;  Gott.  1803,  p.  157,  et  seq.  See  Gazzaniga,  Praelec- 
tions  theologicae,  etc. ;  Venet.  1803,  9  Vol.  4to.  Vol.  I.  Diss.  ii.  c.  7. 
p.  71,  et  seq. 

22* 


258  WEAKNESS    OF   THE    EVIDENCE 

man,  now  in  London,  cured  diseases,  opened  the  blind 
eyes,  restored  the  wasted  limb,  and  raised  men  from  the 
dead,  all  by  a  mere  word  ;  that  he  himself  was  born 
miraculously,  and  attended  by  miracles  all  his  life,  — 
who  would  believe  the  story  ?  We  should  be  justified 
in  demanding  a  large  amount  of  the  most  unimpeach- 
able evidence.  This  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  doubt 
of  scientific  men  in  respect  of  "  animal  magnetism  " 
and  "spiritualism" — ^ where  no  law  is  violated  but  a 
faculty  hitherto  little  noticed  is  disclosed. 

Now  if  we  look  after  the  facts  of  the  case,  we  find 
the  evidence  for  the  Christian  miracles  is  very  scanty  in 
extent,  and  very  uncertain  in  character.  We  must  de- 
pend on  the  testimony  of  the  epistolary  and  the  histor- 
ical books  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  a  notorious 
fact  that  the  genuine  Epistles,  the  earliest  Christian 
documents,  make  no  mention  of  any  miracles  performed 
by  Jesus  ;  and  when  we  consider  the  character  of  Paul, 
his  strong  love  of  the  marvellous,  the  manner  in  which 
he  dwells  on  the  appearance  of  Jesus  to  him  after  death, 
it  seems  surprising,  if  he  believed  the  other  miracles, 
that  he  does  not  allude  to  them.  To  examine  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Gospels  ;  two  profess  to  contain  the  evi- 
dence of  eye-wftnesses.  But  we  are  not  certain  these 
books  came  in  their  present  shape  from  John  and  Mat- 
thew ;  it  is  certain  they  were  not  written  till  long  after 
the  events  related.  The  Gospel  ascribed  to  John  is  of 
small  historical  value  if  of  any  at  all.  But  still  more, 
each  of  them  relates  what  the  writers  could  not  have 
been  witness  to ;  so  we  have  nothing  but  hearsay  and 
conjecture.  Besides,  these  authors  shared  the  com- 
mon prejudice  of  their  times,  and  disagree  one  with 
the  other.  The  Gospels  of  Mark  and  Luke  —  who 
were    not   eye-witnesses  —  in  some    points  corroborate 


FOR   THE   CHRISTIAN   MIRACLES.  259 

the  testimony  of  John  and  Matthew;  in  others  add 
nothing;  in  yet  others  they  contradict  each  other  as 
well  as  John  and  Matthew.  But  there  are  still  other 
accounts  —  the  Apocryphal  Gospels  —  some  of  them 
perhaps  older  than  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  certainly 
older  than  John,  and  these  make  the  case  worse  by  dis- 
closing the  fondness  for  miracles  that  marked  the  Chris- 
tians of  that  early  period.^  Taking  all  these  things  into 
consideration,  and  remembering  that  in  many  particu- 
lars the  three  first  Gospels  are  but  one  witness,  adding 
the  current  belief  of  the  times  in  favor  of  miracles,  the 
evidence  to  prove  their  historical  reality  is  almost  noth- 
ing, admitting  we  have  the  genuine  books  of  the  disci- 
ples ;  it  at  least  is  such  evidence  as  would  not  be  con- 
sidered of  much  value  in  a  court  of  justice.  However 
the  absence  of  testimony  does  not  prove  that  miracles 
were  not  performed,  for  a  universal  negative  of  this 
character  cannot  be  proved.^ 

If  one  were  to  look  carefully  at  the  evidence  in  favor 
of  the  Christian  miracles,  and  proceed  with  the  caution 

1  See  these  Apocryphal  Works  referred  to  in  note  on  p.  235.  Also 
Jones,  Method  of  settling  the  canonical  Authority  of  the  N.  T. ;  Ox- 
ford, 1797,  3  vols.  The  Apoc.  N.  T. ;  Boston,  1832.  Wake,  Epistles 
of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  etc. ;  Oxford,  1840.  See  Mosheim's  Disser- 
tation on  the  causes  which  led  to  the  composition  of  supposititious 
works  among  the  early  Christians,  in  his  Diss,  ad  H.  E.  pertinentes  ; 
Alt.  1743,  Vol.  L  p.  221,  et  seq.  Mr.  Norton,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  III.  Ch. 
XI.  treats  of  the  subject  but  not  with  his  usual  learning. 

^  See  some  just  remarks  in  Hennel,  ubi  sub.  Ch.  VIII.  ;  Strauss, 
Leben  Jesu,  §  1-15,  §  90-103,  132-139  ;  Glaubenslehre,  §  17,  and  on 
the  other  hand  Neander  and  Tholuck.  See  De  Wette,  Wesen  des 
Glaubens,  §  60.  Fliigge,  Gesch.  theol.  Wissenschaften  ;  Halle,  1796, 
Vol.  I.  p.  97,  et  seq.  For  the  value  early  set  on  miraculous  evidence, 
see  the  Treatise  of  Theophilus,  (Bp.  of  Antioch,  in  the  2d  cent.,) 
address  to  Autolycus,  Lib.  I.  C.  13,  et  al.     Trenck,  ubi  sup. 


260  MIRACLES   OF   ST.  BERNARD. 

of  a  true  inquirer,  he  must  come  to  the  conclusion,  I 
think,  that  they  cannot  be  admitted  as  facts.  The 
Resurrection — a  miracle  alleged  to  be  wrought  upon 
Jesus,  not  by  him,  —  has  more  evidence,  though  of  the 
same  inferior  kind,  than  any  other,  for  it  is  attested  by 
the  Epistles,  as  well  as  the  Gospels,  and  was  one  corner- 
stone of  the  Christian  church.  But  here,  is  the  testi- 
mony sufficient  to  show  that  a  man  thoroughly  dead  as 
Abraham  and  Isaac  were,  came  back  to  life;  passed 
through  closed  doors,  and  ascended  into  the  sky  ?  I  can- 
not speak  for  others — but  most  certainly  I  cannot  be- 
lieve such  monstrous  facts  on  such  evidence.^ 

There  is  far  more  testimony  to  prove  the  fact  of  mir- 
acles, witchcraft,  and  diabolical  possessions  in  times 
comparatively  modern,  than  to  prove  the  Christian 
miracles.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  most  credible 
writers  among  the  early  Christians,  Irenaeus,  Origen, 
Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Augustine,  Chrysostom,  Jerome, 
Theodoret,  and  others,  believed  that  the  miraculous 
power  continued  in  great  vigor  in  their  time.^     But  to 

^  But  see  Furness,  ubi  sup.  ch.  VII.  VIII.  XIII.  See  the  candid 
remarks  of  De  Wette,  ubi  sup.  §  61.  He  admits  the  difficulties  of 
the  case,  and  only  saves  the  general  fact  of  the  resurrection,  by  re- 
jecting the  authenticity  of  the  4th  and  part  of  the  3d  Gospel,  (p. 
315,  et  seq.)  for  he  thinks  the  details  of  their  accounts  are  inad- 
missible. 

^  On  this  subject  of  the  miraculous  power  in  the  early  church,  see 
the  celebrated  treatise  of  Middleton,  A  Free  Inquiry  into  the  Miracu- 
lous Powers  in  the  Christian  Church,  etc. ;  Lond.  1749,  in  his  Works, 
Lond.  1752,  Vol.  I.  See  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  Ft.  I.  ch.  I.  §  8,  and 
Murdock's  note.  The  testimony  of  Chrysostom  is  fluctuating.  See 
Middleton,  Vol.  I.  p.  105,  et  seq.  See  Newman's  defence  of  the 
Cath.  mii-acles  in  the  dissertation  prefixed  to  Vol.  I.  of  the  Tr.  of 
Fleury's  History  of  the  Church.  Conrad  Lycosthenes,  Prodigiorum 
ac  Ostentorum  Chronicon;  Basil,  1557,  1  Vol.  Fol.     The  Treatise  of 


MIRACLES    OF    ST.    BERNARD,  261 

come  down  still  later,  the  case  of  St.  Bernard  of  Clair- 
vaux  is  more  to  the  point.  He  lived  in  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries.  His  life  has  been  written  in  part  by 
William,  Abbot  of  St.  Thierry,  Ernald,  Abbot  of  Bon- 
nevaux,  and  Geoffrey,  Abbot  of  Igny,  "  all  eye-wit- 
aesses  of  the  saint's  actions."  Another  life  was  written 
by  Alanus,  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  and  still  another  by 
John  the  Hermit,  not  long  after  the  death  of  Bernard, 
both  his  contemporaries.  Besides,  there  are  three  books 
on  his  miracles,  one  by  Philip  of  Clairvaux,  another  by 
the  monks  of  that  place,  and  a  third  by  the  above-men- 
tioned Geoffrey.  He  cm-ed  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the 
lame,  the  blind,  men  possessed  with  devils,  in  many 
cases,  before  multitudes  of  people :  he  wrought  thirty- 
six  miracles  in  a  single  day,  says  one  of  these  historians; 
converted  men  and  women  that  could  not  understand 
the  language  he  spoke  in.  His  wonders  are  set  down 
by  the  eye-witnesses  themselves,  men  known  to  us  by 
the  testimony  of  others.^     I  do  not  hesitate  in  saying 

St.  Ephraim  of  Cherson  on  the  miracle  wrought  by  Clement,  at  the 
end  of  Cotelerius,  Pat.  Apost. ;  Ant.  1698,  Vol.  I.  p.  811,  et  seq. 
The  story  of  Simon  Magus  shows  the  credulity  of  the  early  Church. 
See  it  in  Hegesippus,  Lib.  III.  C.  II.  See  too  Leo,  Ep.  ad  Constant. 
Imp. ;  Augustinus  Ep.  86,  and  Const.  Apost.  YI.  9.  Bernino,  Istoria, 
de  tuttel,  Heresie ;  Venet.  1711.  4  Vol.  4to.  Sec.  L  Ch.  L  See  the 
curious  Miracles  related  by  Victor  Vitensis  and  Aeneas  Gazaeus,  in 
Gibbon,  Hist.  ch.  XXXVH. 

^  See  these  books  In  Mabillon's  edition  of  Bernard ;  Paris,  1721, 
Vol.  II.  p.  1071,  et  seq.  See  Fleury,  Hlstoire  Eccleslastlque,  Liv. 
LXVT.  et  seq.,  and  especially  LXIX.  ch.  XVII.;  ed.  Nismes,  1779, 
Vol.  X.  p.  147,  et  seq.,  where  is  a  summary  of  some  of  his  most  im- 
portant miracles.  See  likewise  Les  Vies  des  Saints;  Paris,  1701, 
Vol.  n.  p.  288-326  ;  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints;  Lond.  1815,  Vol. 
VIE  p.  227-274  ;  Mllner's  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  etc.  Vol. 
HI. ;  Christian  Examiner  for  March,  1841,  Art.  I.     At  the  recent  ex- 


262  AS   MUCH   EVIDENCE   FOR 

that  there  is  far  more  evidence  to  support  the  miracles 
of  St.  Bernard  than  those  mentioned  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament.^ 

But  we  are  to  accept  such  testimony  with  great  cau- 
tion. The  tendency  of  men  to  believe  the  thing 
happens  which  they  expect  to  happen  ;  the  tendency  of 
rumor  to  exaggerate  a  real  occurrence,  into  a  surprising 
or  miraculous  affair,  is  well  known.  A  century  and  a 
half  have   not  gone  by  since  witches   were   tried   by  a 

hibition  of  "  the  holy  Robe  of  Jesus  "  at  Treves,  no  less  than  eleven 
miraculous  cures  were  effected^  so  it  is  said.  Miraeula  Stultis !  See 
Marx,  History  of  the  Holy  Robe  of  J.  C.  with  an  account  of  the 
miraculous  cures  performed  by  the  said  Robe  from  18th  August  to  6th 
October,  1844  ;  Phil.  1845.  Numerous  Bishops  attended  the  exhibi- 
tion, and  more  than  1,100,000  persons,  says  the  book.  See  p.  97,  et 
seq.  See  too  John  Ronge,  the  holy  coat  of  Treves  and  the  new  Ger- 
man Catholic  Church ;  New  York,  1845.  See  an  account  of  the 
miracle  wrought  by  Vespasian,  in  Tacitus,  Hist.  Lib.  IV.  C.  81,  0pp. 
ed.  Paris,  1819,  IH.  p.  490,  et  seq.  See  several  similar  wonders  in 
Ammon,  ubi  sup.  p.  165,  et  seq. 

^  Bernino,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p.  204,  gives  a  very  dramatic  account  of  a 
scene  between  St.  Macarius  and  a  Heretic,  in  which,  to  prove  the  truth 
of  the  catholic  doctrine,  the  saint  raises  from  the  dead  a  monk  who 
had  been  buried  about  a  month  !  For  other  confirmatory  miracles, 
see  Bernino,  passim.  It  is  well  known  that  Petrarch,  in  the  14th 
century,  believed  the  miracles  of  Pope  Urban  his  own  contemporary  ; 
and  de  Sade  his  biographer,  writing  in  1767,  will  have  us  believe  that 
the  Pope  actually  performed  80  miracles,  besides  raising  two  girls 
from  the  dead  in  the  city  of  Avignon.  Junker,  in  his  Ehrengedacht- 
nitz  Lutheri,  (p.  276-89,  ed.  1707,)  says  that  a  portrait  of  Luther  at 
Ober-Rossla  in  Weimar,  at  three  different  times,  was  covered  with  a 
profuse  sweat  while  the  preacher  was  speaking  of  the  sad  state  of  the 
schools  and  churches.  See  Reformation  Almanach  fur  1817,  p. 
XXVI.  See  the  story  of  Spiridion,  and  his  numerous  miracles,  in 
Sozomen,  Hist.  Eccles.  Lib.  I.  C.  XI.;  ed.  Par.  1544,  p.  14,  et  seq. 
See  Wright's  Essay  on  the  Lit.  and  Superstitions  of  England  in 
middle  'ages  ;  Lond.  1846,  Vol.  H.  Essay  X.  XII. 


WITCHCRAFT    AND    POSSESSIONS.  263 

special  court  in  Massachusetts  ;  convicted  by  a  jury  of 
twelve  good  men  and  true ;  preached  against  by  the 
clergy,  and  executed  by  the  common  hangman.  Any 
one  who  looks  carefully  and  without  prejudice  into  the 
matter  sees,  I  think,  more  evidence  for  the  reality  of 
those  "  wonders  of  the  invisible  world "  than  for  the 
Christian  miracles.  Here  is  the  testimony  of  scholars, 
clergymen,  witnesses  examined  under  oath,  jurymen, 
and  judges ;  the  confession  of  honest  men  ;  of  persons 
whose  character  is  well  known  at  the  present  day,  to 
prove  the  reality  of  witchcraft  and  the  actual  occurrence 
of  miraculous  facts ;  of  the  interference  of  powers 
more  than  human  in  the   affairs   of  the  world.^     The 

^  See,  who  will,  Cotton  Mather's  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  "World ; 
Boston,  169.3.  Increase  Mather's  Cases  of  Conscience,  etc.,  and  the 
learned  authors  in  Diabology  therein  cited.  See  also  Hale's  Modest 
Enquiry  into  the  Nature  of  Witchcraft,  etc. ;  Boston,  1 702.  Calef, 
More  Wonders  from  the  Invisible  World ;  London,  1 700.  Upham's 
Lectures  on  Witchcraft,  etc.  Stone's  History  of  Beverly ;  Boston 
1843,  p.  213,  et  seq.  Mather's  Magnalia,  passim.  Chandler's  Crim- 
inal Trials,  p.  65,  et  seq.  Bancroft,  ubi  sup.  ch.  XIX.  See  many 
curious  particulars  in  Hutchinson's  Essay  concerning  Witchcraft,  etc. ; 
second  edition,  London,  1720.  See  Remigius,  Demonolatriae,  Libri 
HI.;  Col.  1576,  1  Vol.  12mo.  I  have  not  seen  the  book,  but  it  is 
said  to  contain  matter  derived  from  the  cases  of  about  900  persons 
executed  for  witchcraft  in  15  years  at  Lorraine.  See  a  contemporary 
Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  against  Dame  Alice  Kyteler.  prosecuted 
for  Sorcery  in  1324  by  the  Bp.  of  Ossory  ;  Lond.  1843,  1  Vol.  4to,  In- 
troduction. See  Account  of  the  Trial,  Confession,  etc.,  of  Six 
Witches  at  Maidstone,  etc.  1652,  and  the  Trial  of  Three  Witches,  etc. 
1645;  Lond.  1837.  In  the  13th  century  the  Cath.  Church  declared 
a  disbelief  of  witchcraft  to  be  Heresy.  See,  who  will,  the  Bulls  of 
the  Popes  relative  to  this  from  Greg.  IX.  down  to  the  famous  Bull  of 
Innoc.  VIH. '  (1484)  Summis  desiderantes.  The  celebrated  work  of 
Sprenger  &  Kramer,  Malleus  Malleficai-um  (1484  at  Saesse,)  may  be 
consulted  by  the  curious.  In  1487  this  infamous  work  was  approved 
by  the  theological  faculty  at  Cologne,  and  acquired  a  great  reputation 


264  POWER   OF   FANATICISM. 

appearance  of  spectres  and  ghosts,  of  the  Devil  as 
"  a  little  black  man ; "  the  power  of  witches  to  ride 
through  the  air,  overturn  a  ship,  raise  storms,  and 
torture  men  at  a  distance,  is  attested  by  a  cloud  of 
witnesses,  perfectly  overshadowing  to  a  man  of  easy 
faith .1  In  the  celebrated  case  of  Richard  Dugdale,  the 
"  Surey  Demoniack,"  or  "  Surey  Impostor,"  ^  —  which 
occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
in  England,  and  was  a  most  notorious  affair,  —  we  have 
the  testimony  of  nine  dissenting  clergymen,  to  prove 
his  diabolical  miracles,  all  of  them  familiar  with  the 
"Demoniack;"  and  also  the  depositions  of  many 
"'  credible  persons,"  sworn  to  before  two  magistrates,  to 
confirm  the  wonder.  Yet  it  turned  out  at  last  that 
there  was   no  miracle  in  the  case.^     It  is   needless  to 

in  the  church.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  1650,  when  two  Jesuits  in 
Germany  wrote  against  trials  for  Witchcraft,  the  most  famous  Protes- 
tant divines  —  as  Pott  at  Jena  and  Carpzov  at  Leipsic — defended  the 
prosecution,  and  wished  men  punished  for  digbelieving  in  witchcraft. 
See  Gazzaniga,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  IV.  Diss.  I.  C.  20,  p.  44,  et  seq. 

^  Henry  More  has  made  a  pretty  collection  of  cases  out  of  authors 
now  forgotten,  in  Antidote  against  Atheism,  Book  HI.  ch.  I.-XIV. 
Appendix,  ch.  XII.  XIII.  Immortahtas  Animae,  Lib.  11.  ch.  XV.- 
XVII. ;  Lib.  III.  ch.  IV.  See  his  Enchiridion  Metaphysicum,  Pars. 
I.  ch.  XXVI.  W.  G.  Solden  has  written  a  Geschichte  der  Hexen- 
Processe,  etc.;  Stuttgart,  1843.  See  too  Hauber's  Zauberbibliothek  ; 
3  vols.  8vo.  Horst,  Zauberbibliothek,  6  vols.  8vo.  and  Grasse,  Bibli- 
otheca  Magica,  etc.;  Leip.  1843. 

^ "  The  Surey  Demoniack,  or  an  Account  of  Satan's  Strange  and 
Dreadful  Actings  in  and  about  the  Body  of  Richard  Dugdale,"  etc. 
etc.;  London,  1697. 

^  See  Taylor's  "The  Devil  turned  Casuist,"  etc.;  London,  1697. 
"  Lancashire  Levite  Rebuked  ; "  1698,  and  "The  Surey  Impostor." 
The  latter  I  copy  from  citations  in  "  A  Vindication  of  the  Surey  De- 
moniack," etc. ;  London,  1698.  Such  as  wish  to  see  melancholy 
specimens  of  human  foUy  may  consult  also  Barrows,  "  The  Lord's 
Arm  stretched  out,"  etc.  etc. ;  London,  1664.      "  The  Second  Part  of 


PRETENDED  xMIRACLES.  265 

mention  the  "  miracles "  wrought  at  the  tomb  of  the 
Abb^  de  Paris,  during  the  last  century,^  or,  in  our  own 
time,  those  of  father  Matthews  in  Ireland,  and  the  Mor- 
monites  in  New  England.  A  miracle  is  never  looked 
for  but  it  comes.^ 

the  Boy  of  Bilson,"  etc.  etc.;  London,  1698.  "A  Relation  of  the 
Diabolical  Practices  of  above  twenty  Witches  of  Renfreu,  etc.,  con- 
tained in  their  Tryals,  etc.,  and  for  which  several  of  them  have  been 
executed  the  present  Year,"  1697;  London,  1697.  "  Sadducismus 
Debellatus,  Narrative  of  the  Sorceries  and  Witchcrafts  of  the  Devil 
upon  Mrs.  Christian  Shaw,  etc.  of  Renfreu,"  etc.;  London,  1698. 
See  Glanvill,  a  Blow  at  Modern  Sadducism,  in  some  considerations 
about  Witchcraft,  etc.  etc.;  4th  ed.  London,  1668.  Essays,  etc.; 
London,  1676.  Essay  VI.  Against  Modern  Sadducism  in  the  matter 
of  Witches  and  Apparitions.  Sadducismus  triumphatus,  or  evidence 
concerning  Witches  and  Apparitions,  etc.  etc. ;  4th  ed.  London,  1726. 
Yet  the  Author  was  a  highly  intelligent  man,  who  appreciated  Bacon 
and  applauded  Descartes,  and  contended  for  free  inquiry  and  against 
Superstition  and  Fanaticism,  with  wit  and  argument,  (See  Essay  YII.) 
Howell  estimates  that  thirty  thousand  suffered  death  for  Witchcraft, 
in  England,  during  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  State  Trials,  Vol. 
II.  p.  1051,  as  cited  by  Chandler,  ubi  sup.  p.  69. 

^  See  the  celebrated  work  of  M.  de  Montgeron,  La  Verite  des 
Miracles  de  M.  de  Paris,  demontree,  etc.;  Utrecht,  1737,  1  Vol.  4to. 
The  Author  was  a  Conseiller  au  Parlement.,  and  himself  converted  by 
these  Miracles,  See  too  the  Advertissemont  of  this  ed.,  and  the  "con- 
sequens  qu'on  doit  tirer  des  Miracles,  etc."  with  the  remarkable 
"  Pieces  justificatives,"  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  See  Mosheim  Dis- 
sert, on  this  subject,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  p.  309,  et  seq. 

It  is  instructive  to  find  Ireneeus,  (II.  57,)  declaring  that  the  true 
disciples  of  Christ  could  work  miracles  in  his  time,  and  that  the  Dead 
were  raised  and  remained  alive  some  years.  Eusebius,  H.  E.  IV.  3, 
cites  Quadratus,  who  lived  half  a  century  before  Irenaeus,  to  prove 
that  men  miraculously  raised  from  the  dead  lived  a  considerable  time, 
ed.  Heinichen,  Vol.  I.  p.  292.  See  the  curious  papers  on  Folk-Lore, 
in  the  Athenaeum,  (London,)  for  1846. 

^  Well  says  Livy,  XXIV.  1 0,  Quae  [Miracula]  quo  magis  credebant 
simplices  et  religiosi  homines,  eo  plura  nunciabantur !     See  the  re- 

23 


266  MIRACLES    OF   NO    USE. 

No  man  can  say  there  was  not  something  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  Christian  "  miracles,"  and  of  witchcrafts 
and  possessions  ;  1  doubt  not  something  not  yet  fully 
understood  ;  but  to  suppose,  on  such  evidence,  that  God 
departed  from  the  usual  law  of  the  world,  in  these 
cases,  is  not  very  rational,  to  say  the  least ;  to  make 
such  a  belief  essential  to  Christianity  is  without  war- 
rant in  the  words  of  Christ. 

But  now  admitting  in  argument  that  Jesus  wrought 
all  the  miracles  alleged ;  that  his  birth  and  resurrection 
were  both  miraculous  ;  that  he  was  the  only  person  en- 
dowed with  such  miraculous  power  —  it  does  not  thence 
follow  that  he  would  teach  true  doctrine.  Must  a 
revealer  of  transient  miracles  to  the  sense  necessarily 
be  a  revealer  of  eternal  truth  to  the  soul  ?  It  follows 
no  more  than  the  reverse.  But  admit  it  in  argument. 
Then  he  must  never  be  mistaken  in  the  smallest 
particular.  But  this  is  contrary  to  fact ;  for  if  we  may 
trust  the  record,  he  taught  that  he  should  appear  again 
after  his  alleged  ascension,  and  the  world  would  end  in 
that  age. 

Practically  speaking,  a  miracle  is  a  most  dubious 
thing ;  in  this  case  its  proof  the  most  uncertain.  But 
on  the  supposition  that  our  conviction  of  the  truth 
of  Religion  must  rest  wholly  or  mainly  on  the  fact, 
that  Jesus  wrought  the  alleged  miracles,  then  is  Relig- 
ion itself  a  most  uncertain  thing,  and  we  in  this  age 
can  never  be  so  sure  thereof,  though  our  soul  testify  to 
its  truth,  as  the   old  Jews,  who  rejected  him,  and  yet 

niarkable  literature  connected  with  what  is  called  "  Spiritualism " 
already  so  copious,  especially  the  works  of  Edmands,  Rogere,  Ballou, 
Bell,  and  Hare ;  the  writings  of  A.  J.  Daris,  seem  to  be  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  literary  phenomena  in  the  world,  but  it  would 
be  absurd  to  caU  them  miraculous. 


RELIGION   TRUE   IN   ITSELF.  267 

had  their  senses  to  testify  to  the  miracles.  If  the 
proof  of  Religion  be  the  sensations  of  the  evangelists, 
then  we  can  be  no  more  certain  of  its  truth  than  of  the 
fact  that  Jesus  had  no  human  father! 

But  this  question  of  miracles,  whether  true  or  false, 
is  of  no  religious  significance.  When  Mr.  Locke  said 
the  doctrine  proved  the  miracles,  not  the  miracles  the 
doctrine,  he  silently  admitted  their  worthlessness.  They 
can  be  useful  only  to  such  as  deny  our  internal  power 
of  discerning  truth.^     Now  the  doctrine  of  Religion  is 

^ "  Let  us  see  how  far  inspiration  can  enforce  on  the  mind  any 
opinion  concerning  God  or  his  worship,  when  accompanied  with  a 
power  to  do  a  miracle,  and  here  too,  I  say,  the  last  determination  must 
be  that  of  reason.  1 .  Because  reason  must  be  the  Judge  what  is  a  miracle j 
and  lohat  is  not,  which  —  not  knowing  how  far  the  power  of  natural 
causes  do  extend  themselves,  and  what  strange  effects  they  may  pro- 
duce —  is  very  hard  to  determine.  2.  It  vyill  always  he  as  great  a 
miracle  that  God  should  alter  the  course  of  natural  things,  as  overturn 
the  principles  of  knowledge  and  understanding  in  a  man,  by  setting 
up  any  thing  to  be  received  by  him  as  a  truth  which  his  reason  cannot 
assent  to,  as  the  miracle  itself;  and  so  at  best  it  will  he  hut  one  miracle 
against  another,  and  the  greater  still  on  reason's  side  ;  it  being  harder  to 
believe  God  should  alter  and  put  out  of  its  ordinary  course  some  phe- 
nomenon of  the  great  world  for  once,  and  make  things  act  contrary  to 
their  ordinary  rule,  purposely,  that  the  mind  of  man  might  do  so  always 
afterwards,  than  that  this  is  some  fallacy  or  natural  effect,  of  which  he 
knows  not  the  cause,  let  it  look  never  so  strange.  ...  I  do  not  here- 
by deny  in  the  least,  that  God  can  do,  or  hath  done,  miracles  for  the 
confirmation  of  truth  ;  but  I  only  say  that  we  cannot  think  he  should 
do  them  to  enforce  doctrines  or  notions  of  himself  or  any  worship  of 
him  not  conformable  to  reason,  or  that  we  can  receive  such  for  truth 
for  the  miracle's  sake  ;  and  even  in  those  books  which  have  the  great- 
est proof  of  revelation  from  God,  and  the  attestation  of  miracles  to 
confirm  their  being  so,  the  miracles  are  to  be  judged  by  the  doctrine, 
and  not  the  doctrine  by  the  miracle.''  King's  Life  of  Locke,  Vol.  I.  p. 
231,  et  seq.  See  the  remarks  of  Calvin,  Institutes,  Dedication  to 
Francis  I.  Allen's  Tr.  ;  Lond.  1838,  Vol.  I.  p.  XIX.     Gerhard  in  his 


268  TRUTH   COMES   FROM   GOD. 

eternally  true.  It  requires  only  to  be  understood  to  be 
accepted.  It  is  a  matter  of  direct  and  positive  knowl- 
edge, dependent  on  no  outside  authority,  while  the 
Christian  miracles  are,  at  best,  but  a  matter  of  testi- 
mony, and  therefore  of  secondary  and  indirect  knowl- 
edge. The  thing  to  be  proved  is  notoriously  true ;  the 
alleged  means  of  proof  notoriously  uncertain.  Is  it 
not  better,  then,  to  proceed  to  Religion  at  once  ?  for 
when  this  is  admitted  to  be  as  true  as  the  demonstra- 
tions and  axioms  of  science,  as  much  a  matter  of  cer- 
tainty as  the  consciousness  of  our  existence,  then 
miracles  are  of  no  value.  They  may  be  interesting  to 
the  historian,  the  antiquary  or  physiologist,  not  to  us  as 
religious  men.  They  now  hang  as  a  mill-stone  about 
the  neck  of  many  a  pious  man,  who  can  believe  in  Re- 
ligion, but  not  in  the  transformation  of  water  to  wine, 
or  the  resurrection  of  a  body. 


Common  Places,  says,  "Miracles  prove  nothing,  unless  they  have  a 
doctrinal  Truth  connected  with  them." 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE   ESSENTIAL    EXCELLENCE    OF   THE   CHRISTIAN   RELIGION. 

Let  us  call  the  religious  teachings  of  Jesus  Christian- 
ity ;  it  agrees  generically  with  all  other  forms  in  this, 
that  it  is  a  Religion.  Its  peculiarity  is  not  in  its  doc- 
trine of  one  Infinite  God ;  of  the  Immortality  of  Man, 
nor  of  future  Retribution.  It  is  not  in  particular  rules 
of  Morality,  for  precepts  as  true  and  beautiful  may  be 
found  in  Heathen  writers,  who  give  us  the  same  view 
of  Man's  nature,  duty,  and  destination.  The  great 
doctrines  of  Christianity  were  known  long  before  Jesus, 
for  God  did  not  leave  man  four  thousand  years  unable 
to  find  out  his  plainest  duty.  There  is  no  precept  of 
Jesus,  no  real  duty  commanded,  no  promise  offered,  no 
sanction  held  out,  which  cannot  be  paralleled  by  simi- 
lar precepts  in  writers  before  him.  The  pure  in  heart 
saw  God  before  as  well  as  after  him.  Every  imperfect 
form  of  Religion  was,  more  or  less,  an  anticipation  of 
Christianity.  So  far  as  a  man  has  real  Religion,  so  far 
he  has  what  is  true  in  Christianity.^     By  its  light  Zoro- 

^  See  Tindal,  Christianity  as  Old  as  the  Creation,  etc.  See  Lactan- 
tius,  Hist.  Div.  Lib.  VII.  C.  7,  Nos.  4  and  7,  who  admits  that  all  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  were  taught  before,  but  not  collected  into 
one  mass.     See  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  I.  13,  p.  349.     Dr.  Reginald  Pea- 

23  *  (269) 


270  EXCELLENCE   OP   CHRISTIANITY. 

aster,  Confucius,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  with  many  mill- 
ions of  holy  men,  walked  in  the  early  times  of  the 
world.  By  this  they  were  cheered  when  their  souls 
were  bowed  down,  and  they  knew  not  which  way  to 
turn.  They  and  their  kindred,  like  Moses,  were  school- 
masters to  prepare  the  world  for  Christianity  ;  shadows 
of  good  things  to  come  ;  the  dayspring  from  on  high ; 
the  Bethlehem  star  announcing  the  Perfect  Religion 
which  is  to  follow.  Modern  Christians  love  to  deny 
that  there  are  points  of  agreement  between  Christianity 
and  its  predecessors.  The  early  apologists  took  just 
the  opposite  course. 

1.  The  religious  teachings  of  Jesus  have  this  chief 
excellence,  they  allow  men  to  advance  indefinitely  be- 
yond him.  He  does  not  foreclose  human  consciousness 
against  the  income  of  new  truth,  nor  make  any  one 
fact  of  human  history  a  bar  to  the  development  of 
human  nature.  I  do  not  find  that  he  taught  his  doc- 
trines either  as  a  Finality,  or  as  one  of  many  steps  in 
the  progressive  Development  of  mankind :  he  gives  no 
opinion.  The  author  of  the  fourth  Gospel  makes  him 
tell  his  disciples  that  he  had  other  things  to  make 
known ;  that  the  Comforter  would  teach  them  all 
things,  and  they  should  do  greater  works  than  he. 
Paul,  professing  to  receive  new  revelation  from  the 
immortal  Jesus,  revolutionizes  the  doctrines  of  the  his- 

cock,  writing  in  the  15th  century  against  the  Lollards,  says  that  Chris- 
tianity added  nothing  at  all  (except  the  Sacraments)  to  the  moral  law, 
for  all  of  that  was  primarily  established,  not  on  the  Scriptures  hut  on 
natural  reason ;  and  adds  that  natural  Law  must  he  oheyed,  even  if 
Christ  and  the  ap>ostles  had  taught  what  teas  opposed  thereto.  Wharton 
in  Appendix  to  Cave,  Historia  literaria,  etc. ;  Lond.  1698,  Vol.  L 
p.  136. 


SOURCE    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  271 

torical  person  :  and  notwithstanding  the  profession  of 
*' following  Jesus  "  as  the  sole  authority,  the  Christian 
Church  has  built  up  a  "  Scheme  of  Divinity "  and  a 
"  Plan  of  Salvation "  as  much  at  variance  with  the 
recorded  words  of  Jesus  in  the  Synoptics,  as  repugnant 
to  common  sense.  No  sect  has  practically  taken  the 
words,  of  Jesus  for  a  finality,  though  each  counts  its 
own  doctrine  as  the  last  word  of  God. 

Judaism  and  Mahometanism,  each  sets  out  from  the 
alleged  words  of  one  man,  which  are  made  the  only 
measure  of  Truth  for  the  whole  human  race.  There 
can  be  no  progress.  The  devotee  of  Judaism  or  Ma- 
hometanism must  logically  believe  his  form  of  Religion 
perpetual :  so  if  a  man  teach  what  is  hostile  to  it,  he 
must  be  put  to  death,  though  his  doctrine  be  true. 

Whatever  is  consistent  with  Reason,  Conscience,  and 
the  Religious  Faculty,  is  consistent  with  the  Christianity 
of  Jesus,  all  else  is  hostile  ;  whoever  obeys  these  three 
oracles  is  essentially  a  Christian,  though  he  lived  ten  thou- 
sand years  before  Jesus,  or  living  now,  does  not  own  his 
name.  Let  men  improve  in  Reason,  Conscience,  Heart, 
and  Soul,  in  what  most  becomes  a  man  —  they  outgrow 
each  form  of  worship;  they  pass  by  all  that  rests  on  his- 
torical things,  signs,  wonders,  miracles,  all  that  does  not 
rest  on  the  eternal  God,  ever  acting  in  Man  ;  yet  they 
are  not  the  further  from  this  Christianity,  but  all  the 
nearer  by  the  change.  These  things  are  left  behind,  as 
the  traveller  leaves  the  mire  and  stones  of  the  road  he 
travels,  and  shakes  off  the  dust  of  his  garments  as  he 
approaches  some  queenly  city,  throned  amid  the  hills, 
and  looks  back  with  sorrow  on  the  crooked  way  he  has 
traversed,  where  others  still  drag  their  slow  and  linger- 
ing length  along.  Men  must  come  to  such  Christianity 
when  they  come  to  real  manly  excellence.     This  pro- 


27:2  CHRISTIANITY   NOT   A   FINALITY. 

poses  no  partial  end,  but  an  absolute  Object  —  the  per- 
fection of  Man,  or  oneness  with  God.  Therefore  it 
leaves  men  perfect  freedom  ;  the  liberty  that  comes  of 
obedience  to  the  Law  of  the  Spirit  of  Life.  Other 
forms  of  worship,  ancient  and  modern,  confine  men  in 
a  dungeon ;  make  them  think  the  same  thought,  and 
speak  the  same  word,  and  worship  in  the  same  way ; 
Jesus  would  leave  them  the  range  of  the  world,  scope 
and  verge  enough.  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is, 
there  is  Liberty ;  the  liberty  of  perfect  obedience ;  the 
largest  liberty  of  the  sons,  of  God.  Reason  and  Love 
are  hostile  to  every  limited  form  of  religion,  which  says, 
Believe,  Believe ;  they  welcome  that  Religion  of  Jesus, 
which  says,  Be  perfect  as  God. 

2.  A  second  excellence  is  this  :  It  is  not  a  System  of 
theological  or  moral  Doctrines,  but  a  Method  of  Relig- 
ion and  Life.  It  lays  down  no  positive  creed  to  be 
believed  in ;  commands  no  ceremonial  action  to  be 
done;  it  would  make  the  man  perfectly  obedient  to 
God,  leaving  his  thoughts  and  actions  for  Reason  and 
Conscience  to  govern.  It  widens  the  sphere  of  thought 
and  life ;  it  reaffirms  some  of  the  great  religious  truths 
implied  in  Man's  nature ;  shows  their  practical  applica- 
tion and  its  result.  A  religious  system,  with  its  forms, 
and  its  ritual,  lops  off  the  sacred  peculiarities  of  Indi- 
vidual Character;  chains  Reason  and  fetters  the  Will; 
seeks  to  unite  men  in  arbitrary  creeds  and  forms  — 
where  the  union  can  be  but  superficial  and  worthless  — 
and  it  lays  stress  on  externals.  This  Christianity 
insists  on  rightness  before  God  ;  ties  no  man  down  to 
worship  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem  ;  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  or  the  last  day  ;  in  the  church  or 
the  fields  ;  socially  or  in  private  :  with  a  creed,  ritual, 
priest,  symbol,  spoken    prayer,  or  without   these.       It 


BUT   A    METHOD    OF   RELIGION.  273 

breaks  every  yoke,  seen  or  invisible ;  bids  men  worship 
in  love.  It  does  not  ask  man  to  call  himself  a  Chris- 
tian, or  his  Religion  Christianity.  It  bids  him  be 
perfect ;  never  says  to  Reason,  Thus  far  and  no  further  ; 
forbids  no  freedom  of  inquiry,  nor  wide  reach  of  thought ; 
fears  nothing  from  the  Truth,  or  for  it.  It  never  encour- 
ages that  cowardice  of  soul  which  dares  not  think,  nor 
look  facts  in  the  face,  but  sneaks  behind  altars,  texts, 
traditions,  because  they  are  of  the  fathers ;  that  cow- 
ardice which  counts  a  mistake  of  the  apostles  better 
than  truth  in  you  and  me,  and  which  reads  both  Piety 
and  Common  Sense  out  of  its  church  because  they  \vill 
not  bow  the  knee  nor  say  the  creed.  Christianity  asks 
no  man  to  believe  the  Old  Testament,  or  the  New 
Testament,  the  divine  infallibility  of  Moses  or  Jesus, 
but  to  prove  all  things  ;  hold  fast  what  is  good ;  do  the 
will  of  the  Father ;  love  Man  and  God. 

The  method  of  such  a  Christianity  is  a  very  plain 
one.  Obedience,  not  to  that  old  teacher,  or  this  new 
one ;  but  to  God,  who  filleth  all  in  all,  to  His  Law  writ- 
ten on  the  tablets  of  the  heart.  It  exhorts  men  to  a 
divine  life,  not  as  something  foreign  but  as  something 
native  and  welcome  to  Man.  It  is  the  life  of  many 
Systems  of  Religion,  Theology,  and  practical  Morality, 
as  the  ocean  has  many  waves  and  bubbles ;  but  these 
are  not  Christianity  more  than  a  wreath  of  foam  is  the 
Atlantic. 

3.  It  differs  from  others  in  its  eminently  practical 
character.  It  counts  a  manly  life  better  than  saying 
"  Lord,  Lord ; "  puts  mercy  before  sacrifice,  and  pro- 
nounces a  gift  to  man  better  than  a  gift  to  God.  It 
dwells  much  on  the  brotherhood  of  men  ;  annihilates 
national  and  family  distinctions  ;  all  are  sons  of  God, 
and   brothers;  Man   is   to  love  his  brother  as  himself, 


274  NOTHING   BETWEEN   MAN   AND    GOD, 

and  bless  hinij  and  thus  serve  God.  It  values  Man 
above  all  things.  Is  he  poor,  weak,  ignorant,  sinful,  it 
does  not  scorn  him,  but  labors  all  the  more  to  relieve 
the  fallen.  It  sees  the  "  archangel  ruined"  in  the  sickly 
servant  of  Sin.  It  looks  on  the  immortal  nature  of 
Man,  and  all  little  distinctions  vanish.  It  bids  each 
man  labor  for  his  I)rother,  and  never  give  over  till  Igno- 
rance, Want,  and  Sin  are  banished  from  the  earth  ;  to 
count  a  brother's  sufferings,  sorrows,  wrongs,  as  our 
sufferings,  sorrows,  and  wrongs,  and  redress  them.  It 
says,  Carry  the  Truth  to  all.  Before  Jesus,  the  Greek, 
the  Roman,  and  the  Jew,  went  to  other  lands  to  learn 
their  arts,  customs,  and  laws,  study  their  religion. 
Jesus  sent  his  disciples  to  teach  and  serve ;  only  Budha 
and  his  followers  had  done  it  before. 

This  Christianity  allows  no  man  to  sever  himself  from 
the  race,  making  this  world  an  Inn  for  him  to  take  his 
ease.  It  does  nothing  for  God's  sake,  each  good  act  for 
its  own  sake ;  sends  the  devotee  from  his  prayers  to  make 
peace  with  his  brother ;  does  not  rob  a  man's  father  to 
enrich  God ;  nor  fancy  He  needs  any  thing,  sacrifice, 
creeds,  fasts,  or  prayers.  It  makes  worship  consist  in 
being  good,  and  doing  good ;  faith  within  and  works 
without ;  the  test  of  greatness  the  amount  of  good.  done. 
Thus  it  is  not  a  Religion  of  temples,  days,  ceremonies, 
but  of  the  street,  the  fire-side,  the  field-side.  Its  temple 
is  all  space  ;  its  worship  in  spirit  and  truth  ;  its  ceremony 
a  good  life,  blameless  and  beautiful ;  its  priest  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  the  soul ;  its  altar  a  heart  undefiled.  It 
places  duty  above  cant.  It  promises,  as  the  result  of 
obedience  —  oneness  with  God,  and  inspiration  from 
Him.  It  offers  no  substitute  for  this,  for  nothing  can 
do  the  work  of  Goodness  and  Piety  but  Goodness  and 
Piety.     It  offers  no  magic  to  wipe  sin  out  oi  the  soul, 


PECULIARITIES    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  275 

and  insure  the  rewards  of  Religion  without  sharing  its 
fatigues ;  knows  nothing  of  vicarious  goodness.  Its 
Heaven  is  doing  God's  will  now  and  forever ;  thus  it 
makes  no  antithesis  between  this  and  the  next  life.  It 
puts  nothing  between  men  and  God  ;  makes  Jesus  our 
friend  not  our  master ;  a  teacher  who  blesses,  not  a 
tyrant  who  commands  us ;  a  brother  who  pleads  with 
us,  not  an  Attorney  who  pleads  with  God,  still  less  a 
sacrifice  for  sins  he  never  committed,  and  therefore 
could  not  expiate. 

These  are  not  the  peculiarities  oftenest  insisted  on, 
and  taught  as  Christianity  ;  it  is  not  the  mystery,  the 
miraculous  birth,  the  incarnation,  the  God-man,  the 
miracles,  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  the  transfiguration, 
the  atonement,  the  resurrection,  the  angels,  the  ascen- 
sion, the  "  five  points  ;  "  —  other  religions  have  enough 
such  things,  Jesus  had  but  little. 

Notwithstanding  the  anticipation  of  the  doctrines  of 
Jesus  centuries  before  him,  —  Christianity  was  a  new 
thing;  new^  in  its  Spirit,  proved  new  by  the  Life  it 
wakened  in  the  world.  Alas,  such  is  not  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  Churches  at  this  day,  nor  at  any  day 
since  the  crucifixion ;  but  is  it  not  the  Christianity 
of  Christ,  the  one  only  Religion,  everlasting,  ever 
blest  ?  1 

^  See  the  Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Writings  of  Theodore  Parker ; 
Boston,  1843,  Art.  I.  and  X.  Sermons  of  Theism,  Serm.  III.-VI. 
Also,  Relation  between  the  Ecclesiastical  Institutions  and  the  E,eli<n- 
ous  Consciousness  of  the  American  People  ;  and  Function  of  a  Teachef 
of  Religion. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   MORAL   AND   RELIGIOUS    CHARACTER    OF  JESUS   OF 

NAZARETH. 

Reverence  and  Tradition  have  woven  about  Jesus 
such  a  shining  veil,  that  with  the  imperfect  and  doubt- 
ful materials  in  our  hands,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine 
in  detail  and  with  minuteness,  the  character  that  moved 
and  lived  among  his  fellow  men,  and  commenced  what 
may  be  called  the  Christian  movement.  The  difficulty 
is  twofold  :  to  avoid  traditional  prejudice,  and  to  get 
at  the  facts.  Perhaps  it  is  impossible  to  separate  the 
pure  fact  from  the  legendary  and  mythological  dra- 
pery that  surrounds  it.  Besides,  the  Gospels  pretend 
to  cover  but  a  few  months  of  his  active  life.  Still  some 
conclusion  may  be  reached.  From  Christianity  we 
have  separated  the  life  and  character  of  Jesus,  that  we 
might  try  the  doctrine  by  Absolute  Religion  ;  it  now 
remains  to  examine  the  life  of  the  man  by  the  standard 
himself  has  given. 


I.   The  Negative  Side,  or  the  Limitations  of  Jesus. 

It  is  apparent  that  Jesus  shared  the  erroneous  notions 
of  the  times  respecting  devils,  possessions,  and  demonol- 

(276) 


IMPERFECTIONS    OF  JESUS.  277 

ogy  in  general ;  respecting  the  character  of  God,  and 
the  eternal  punishment  he  prepares  for  the  Devil  and 
his  angels,  and  for  a  large  part  of  mankind.  If  we  may 
credit  the  most  trustworthy  of  the  Gospels  he  was  pro- 
foundly in  error  on  these  important  points,  whereon  ab- 
surd doctrines  have  still  a  most  pernicious  influence  in 
Christendom.  But  it  would  be  too  much  to  expect  a 
man  "  about  thirty  years  of  age  "  in  Palestine,  in  the 
first  century,  to  have  outgi'own  what  is  still  the  doctrine 
of  learned  ministers  all  over  the  Christian  world. 

He  was  mistaken  in  his  interpretation  of  the  Old 
Testament,  if  we  may  take  the  word  of  the  Gospels. 
But  if  he  supposed  that  the  writers  of  the  Pentateuch, 
the  Psalms,  and  the  Prophecies,  spoke  of  him  ;  if  he 
applied  their  poetic  figures  to  himself,  it  is  yet  but  a 
trifling  mistake,  aflecting  a  man's  head  not  his  heart.  It 
is  no  more  necessary  for  Jesus  than  for  Luther  to  un- 
derstand all  ancient  literature,  and  be  familiar  with 
criticism  and  antiquities ;  though  with  men  who  think 
Religion  rests  on  his  infallibility,  it  must  be  indeed  a 
very  hard  case  for  their  belief  in  Christianity. 

Sometimes  he  is  said  to  be  an  enthusiast,^  who  hoped 
to  found  a  visible  kingdom  in  Judea,  by  miraculous  aid — 
as  the  prophets  had  distinctly  foretold  their  "  Messiah  " 
should  do,  that  he  should  be  a  King  on  earth,  and  his 
disciples  also,  not  forgetting  Judas,  should  sit  on  twelve 
thrones  and  judge  the  restored  tribes ;  that  he  should 
return  in  the  clouds.  Certainly  a  strong  case,  very 
strong,  may  be  made  out  from  the  Synoptics  to  favor 
this  charge.  But  what  then  ?  Even  if  the  fact  be 
admitted,  as   I  think  it  must  be,  it  does  not  militate 

^  See  in  Eusebius,  Dem.  Ev.  Lib.  III.  C.  3,  the  noble  passage 
defending  him  from  the  charge,  often  brought  of  old  time  —  of  seduc- 
ing the  people. 

24 


278  IMPERFECTIONS    OF  JESUS. 

with  his  morality  and  religion.  How  many  a  saint  has 
been  mistaken  in  such  matters !  His  honesty,  zeal, 
self-sacrifice,  heavenly  purity  still  shine  out  in  the  whole 
course  of  his  life.^ 

Another  charge,  sometimes  brought  against  him,  and 
the  only  one  at  all  affecting  his  moral  and  religious 
character,  is  this  ;  that  he  denounces  his  opponents  in 
no  measured  terms ;  calls  the  Pharisees  "  hypocrites  " 
and  "  children  of  the  devil."  We  cannot  tell  how  far 
the  historians  have  added  to  the  fierceness  of  this  in- 
vective, but  the  general  fact  must  probably  remain,  that 
he  did  not  use  courteous  speech.  We  must  judge  a 
man  by  his  highest  moment.  His  denunciation  of 
sleek,  hollow  Pharisees,  say  some,  is  certainly  lower 
than  the  prayer,  "  Father,  forgive  them  ; "  not  consistent 
with  the  highest  thought  of  humanity.  But  if  such 
would  consider  the  youth  of  the  man,  it  were  a  very 
venial  error  —  to  make  the  worst  of  it.  The  case  called 
for  vigorous  treatment.  Shall  a  man  say,  "  Peace, 
peace,"  when  there  is  no  peace  ?  Sharp  remedies  are 
for  inveterate  and  critical  disease.  It  is  not  with  honeyed 
words,  neither  then  nor  now,  that  great  sins  are  to  be 
exposed.  It  is  a  pusillanimous  and  most  mean-spirited 
wisdom  that  demands  a  religious,  man  to  prophesy 
smooth  things,  lest  Indolence  be  rudely  startled  from 
his  sleep,  and  the  delicate  nerves  of  Sin,  grown  hoary 
and  voluptuous  in  his  hypocrisy,  be  smartly  twitched. 
It  seems  unmanly  and  absurd  to  say  a  man   filled  with 

^  On  this  point  see,  who  will,  the  charges  against  Jesus  in  the 
Wolfenbiittel,  Fragraente ;  in  the  Writings  of  Wiinsch,  Bahrdt, 
Paalzow,  and  Salvador.  See  also  Hennel,  ubi  sup.  Ch.  XVI. ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  Reinhard's  Plan  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity  ; 
Andover,'  1831,  and  Furness,  ubi  sup.  passim,  and  Ullmann,  Siind- 
losigkeit  Jesu. 


THE  BEAUTY  AND  LOVE  IX  HIM.         279 

divine  ideas  should  have  no  indignation  at  the  world's 
wrong.  Rather  let  it  be  said,  No  man's  indignation 
should  be  like  his,  so  deep,  so  uncompromising,  but  so 
holy  and  full  of  love.  Let  it  be  indignation  ;  not  per- 
sonal spleen  :  call  sin  sin,  sinners  by  their  right  name. 

Yet  in  this  general  and  righteous,  though  to  some  it 
might  seem  too  vehement,  indignation  against  men 
when  he  speaks  of  them  as  a  class  and  representatives 
of  an  idea,  there  is  no  lack  of  charity,  none  of  love, 
when  he  speaks  with  an  individual.  He  does  not 
speak  harshly  to  that  young  man  who  went  away 
sorrowful,  his  great  possessions  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  the  other ;  does  not  call 
Judas  a  traitor,  and  Simon  Peter  a  false  liar  as  he  was  ; 
says  only  to  James  and  John  —  ambitious  youths  — 
They  know  not  what  they  ask ;  never  addresses  scorn- 
ful talk  to  a  Pharisee,  or  long-robed  doctor  of  the  law, 
Herodians  or  Scribes,  spite  of  their  wide  phylacteries, 
their  love  of  uppermost  seats,  their  devouring  of  widow's 
houses  in  private,  their  prayers  and  alms  to  be  seen  of 
mem.  He  only  states  the  fact,  but  plainly  and  strongly, 
to  their  verv  face.  Even  for  these  men  his  soul  is  full 
of  affection.  He  could  honor  an  Herodian  ;  pray  for  a 
Scribe ;  love  even  a  Pharisee.  It  was  not  hatred, 
personal  indignation,  but  love  of  men,  which  lit  that 
burning  zeal,  and  denounced  such  as  sat  in  Moses'  seat, 
boasting  themselves  children  of  Abraham,  when  they 
were  children  of  the  Devil,  and  did  his  works  daily — ■ 
dutiful  children  of  the  father  of  lies.  How  he  wailed 
like  a  child  for  the  mother  that  bore  him  :  "  Oh  Jerusa- 
lem, Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets  and 
stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee  ! '  How  he  prayed 
like  a  mother  for  her  desperate  son,  "Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."     Are  these  the 


280  EXCELLENCES    OP   JESUS. 

words  ot  one  that  could  hate  even  the  wickedest  of  the 
deceitful  ?     Who  then  can  love  his  fellow  men  ? 


II.    The  Positive  Side,  or  the  Excellences  of  Jesus. 

In  estimating  the  character  of  Jesus  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  he  died  at  an  age  when  a  man  has  not 
reached  his  fullest  vigor.  The  great  works  of  creative 
intelleot;  the  maturest  products  of  Man;  all  the  deep 
and  settled  plans  of  reforming  the  world,  come  from  a 
period,  when  experience  gives  a  wider  field  as  the  basis 
of  hope.  Socrates  was  but  an  embryo  sage  till  long 
after  the  age  of  Jesus.  Poems  and  Philosophies  that 
live,  come  at  a  later  date.  Now  here  we  see  a  young 
man,  but  little  more  than  thirty  years  old,  with  no 
advantage  of  position  ;  the  son  and  companion  of  rude 
people ;  born  in  a  town  whose  inhabitants  were  wicked 
to  a  proverb;  of  a  nation  above  all  others  distinguished 
for  their  superstition,  for  national  pride,  exaltation  of 
themselves  and  contempt  for  all  others ;  in  an  age 
of  singular  corruption,  when  the  substance  of  religion 
had  faded  out  from  the  mind  of  its  anointed  ministers, 
and  sin  had  spread  wide  among  a  people  turbulent, 
oppressed,  and  downtrodden ;  a  man  ridiculed  for  his 
lack  of  knowledge,  in  this  nation  of  forms,  of  hypocrit- 
ical priests  and  corrupt  people,  falls  back  on  simple 
Morality,  simple  Religion,  unites  in  himself  the  sub- 
limest  precepts  and  divinest  practices,  thus  more  than 
realizing  the  dream  of  prophets  and  sages ;  rises  free 
from  so  many  prejudices  of  his  age,  nation,  or  sect; 
gives  free  range  to  the  spirit  of  God  in  his  breast ;  sets 
aside  the  Law,  sacred  and  time-honored  as  it  was,  its 
forms,  its  sacrifice,  its  temple  and  its  priests ;  puts  away 
the  Doctors  of  the  law,  subtle,  learned,  irrefragable,  and 


EXCELLENCES    OF  JESUS.  281 

pours  out  doctrines,  beautiful  as  the  light,  sublime  as 
Heaven,  and  true  as  God.     The  Philosophers,  the  Poets, 
the  Prophets,  the  Rabbis,  —  he  rises    above    them  all. 
Yet  Nazareth  was  no  Athens,  where  Philosophy  breathed 
in   the    circumambient    air ;    it    had  neither  Porch  nor 
Lyceum,  not  even  a  school  of  the  Prophets.     Doubtless 
he  had  his  errors,  his  follies,  faults,  and  sins  even ;  it  is 
idle  and  absurd  to  deny  it.     But  there  was    a  divine 
manhood  in  the  heart  of  this  youth.     Old  teachers,  past 
times,  the  dead  letter  of  forms  a  century  deceased,  en- 
slaved his  fellow  men,  the  great,  the  wise ;  what  were 
they  to  him  ?     Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead.     Men  had 
reverence    for    institutions    so    old,    so    deep-rooted,  so 
venerably  bearded  with  the  moss  of  age.     Should  not 
he,  at  least,  with  that    sweet  conservatism  of  a  pious 
heart,  sacrifice  a  little  to  human  weakness,  and  put  his 
zeal,  faith,  piety,  into    the    old  religious  form,  sancti- 
fied  by  his  early  recollections,  the  tender  prayer  of  his 
mother,  and  a  long  line  of  saints  ?     New  wine  must  be 
put  into  new  bottles,  says  the  young  man,  triumphing 
over  a  sentiment,  natural  and  beautiful  in  its  seeming- : 
triumphant  where  strife  is  most  perilous,  victory  rarest 
and  most  difficult.     The  Priest  said.  Keep  the  Law  and 
reverence  the  Prophets.     Jesus  sums  up  the  excellence 
of  both.  Love  man  and  love  God,  leaving  the  chaff  of 
Moses,  and  the  husk  of  Ezekiel,  with  their  "  Thus-saith- 
the-Lord,"  to  go  to  their  own  place,  where  the  wind 
might  carry  them. 

He  looked  around  him  and  saw  the  wicked,  men  who 
had  served  in  the  tenth  legion  of  sin,  pierced  with  the 
lances  and  torn  with  the  shot ;  men  scarred  and  seamed 
all  over  with  wounds  dishonorably  got  in  that  service  ; 
men  squalid  with  this  hideous  disease,  their  moral  sense 
blinded,  their  nature  perverse,  themselves  fallen  from  the 

24* 


282  HIS   TREATMENT   OF   SINNERS. 

estate  of  Godliness  for  which  they  were  made,  and  un- 
able, so  they  fancied,  to  lift  themselves  up  ;  men  who 
called  good  evil,  and  evil  good,  —  he  bade  them  rise  up 
and  walk,  waiting  no  longer  for  a  fancied  redeemer  that 
would  never  come.  He  told  them  they  also  were  men ; 
children  of  God,  and  heirs  of  Heaven,  would  they  but 
obey.  So  corrupt  were  they,  there  was  no  open  vision 
for  them :  the  voice  of  God  was  a  forgotten  sound  in 
their  bosoms.  To  them  he  said,  I  am  the  good  Shep- 
herd ;  follow  me.  At  the  sight  of  their  penitence  he 
says.  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee :  go,  and  sin  no  more. 
Is  not  penitence  itself  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the 
dawn  of  reconciliation  with  God  ?  He  showed  men 
their  sin,  the  disease  of  the  soul  living  false  to  its 
law ;  told  them  their  salvation ;  bade  them  obey  and 
be  blessed. 

He  saw  the  oppressor,  with  his  yoke  and  heavy  bur- 
den for  Man's  neck ;  the  iron  that  enters  the  soul ; 
men  who  were  the  corrupters,  the  bane,  the  ruin  of  the 
land  ;  base  men  with  an  honorable  front  ;  low  men, 
crawling,  as  worms,  their  loathsome  track  in  high 
places ;  deceitful  hucksters  of  salvation,  making  God's 
house  of  prayer  a  den  of  thieves,  fair  as  marble  without, 
but  all  rottenness  within.  What  wonder  if  Love,  though 
the  fairest  of  God's  daughters,  at  sight  of  such  baseness 
pours  out  the  burning  indignation  of  a  man  stung  with 
the  tyranny  of  the  strong,  ashamed  at  the  patience  of 
mankind  ;  the  word  of  a  man  fearless  of  all  but  to  be 
false  when  Truth  and  Duty  bid  him  speak  ?  To  call 
the  Whelp  of  Sin  a  devil's  child — is  that  a  crime? 
Doubtless  it  is,  in  men  stirred  by  passion  ;  not  in  a  soul 
filled  to  the  brim  and  overflowing  with  love. 

He  looks  on  the  nation,  the  children  of  pious  Abra- 
ham ;  men  for  whom   Moses  made  laws,  and  Samuel 


JESUS   AND   THE   PHARISEES.  •     283 

held  the  sceptre,  and  David  prayed,  and  prophets  ad- 
monished in  vain,  pouring  out  their  blood  as  water ; 
men  for  whom  psalmist  and  priest  and  seer  and  kings 
had  prayed  and  wept  in  vain,  —  well  might  he  cry, 
"  Oh  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem."  Few  heard  his  cries. 
That  mightiest  heart  that  ever  beat,  stirred  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  how  it  wrought  in  his  bosom !  What 
words  of  rebuke,  of  comfort,  counsel,  admonition,  prom- 
ise, hope,  did  he  pour  out ;  words  that  stir  the  soul  as 
summer  dews  call  up  the  faint  and  sickly  grass!  What 
profound  instruction  in  his  proverbs  and  discourses ; 
what  wisdom  in  his  homely  sayings,  so  rich  with  Jew- 
ish life  ;  what  deep  divinity  of  soul  in  his  prayers,  his 
action,  sympathy,  resignation  !  Persecution  comes ;  he 
bears  it;  contempt,  it  is  nothing  to  him.  Persecuted  in 
one  city,  he  flees  into  another.  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
say.  He  speaketh  against  Moses ;  he  replies.  The  King- 
dom of  Heaven  is  at  hand.  They  look  back  to  the 
past,  and  say.  We  have  Abraham  to  our  father ;  he 
looks  to  the  Comforter,  and  says.  Call  no  man  your 
Father  on  Earth.  They  say.  He  eats  bread  with  un- 
washed hands,  plucks  corn  and  relieves  disease  on  the 
holy  Sabbath  day,  when  even  God  rested  from  his 
labors  ;  he  says.  Worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  They  look  out  to  their  Law,  its  Festivals,  its 
Levites,  its  Chief  Priests,  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
of  the  earth,  the  Temple  and  the  Tithe ;  he  looks  in  to 
the  Soul,  Purity,  Peace,  Mercy,  Goodness,  Love,  Re- 
ligion. The  extremes  meet  often  in  this  world.  Com- 
edy and  Tragedy  jostle  each  other  in  every  dirty  lane. 
But  here  it  was  the  Flesh  and  the  Devil  on  one  side, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  other. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MISTAKES   ABOUT   JESUS  —  HIS   RECEPTION   AND    INFLUENCE. 

We  often  err  in  our  estimate  of  this  man.  The 
image  comes  to  us,  not  of  that  lowly  one ;  the  carpen- 
ter of  Nazareth ;  the  companion  of  the  rudest  men  ; 
hardhanded  and  poorly  clad  ;  not  having  where  to  lay 
his  head;  "who  would  gladly  have  stayed  his  morning 
appetite  on  wild  figs,  between  Bethany  and  Jerusalem  ; " 
hunted  by  his  enemies  ;  stoned  out  of  a  city,  and  fleeing 
for  his  life.  We  take  the  fancy  of  poets  and  painters  ; 
a  man  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  obsequiously 
attended  by  polished  disciples,  who  watched  every 
movement  of  his  lips,  impatient  for  the  oracle  to  speak. 
We  conceive  of  a  man  who  was  never  in  sin,  in  error, 
or  even  in  fear  or  doubt ;  whose  course  was  all  marked 
out  before  him,  so  that  he  could  not  miss  the  way. 
But  such  it  was  not,  if  the  writers  tell  truly  ;  nay,  such 
it  could  not  be.  Did  he  say,  I  came  to  fulfil  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets,  and  it  is  easier  for  Heaven  and  Earth 
to  pass,  than  for  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  Law  to  fail  ? 
Then  he  must  have  doubted,  and  thought  often  and 
with  a  throbbing  heart,  before  he  could  say,  I  am  not 
come  to  bring  peace,  but  a  sword  ;  to  light  a  fire,  and 
would  God  it  were  kindled  :  many  times  before  the 
fulness  of  peace  dwelt  in  him,  and  he  could  say :  The 

(284) 


JESUS  NOT  NOW  APPRECIATED.  285 

hour   Cometh  and   now  is,  when  the    true  worshipper 
shall  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth ! 

We  do  not  conceive  of  that  sickness  of  soul  which 
must  have  come  at  the  coldness  of  the  wise  men,  the 
heartlessness  of  the  worldly,  at  the  stupidity  and  selfish- 
ness of  the  disciples.  We  do  not  think  how  that  heart, 
so  sensitive,  so  great,  so  finely  tuned,  and  delicately 
touched,  must  have  been  pained  to  feel  there  was  no 
other  heart  to  give  an  answering  beat.  We  know  not 
the  long  and  bitter  agony  which  went  before  the 
triumph-cry  of  faith,  I  am  not  alone,  for  the  Father  is 
with  me ;  we  do  not  heed  that  faintness  of  soul  which 
comes  of  hope  deferred,  of  aspirations  all  unshared  by 
men,  a  bitter  mockery,  the  only  human  reply,  the  oft- 
repeated  echo  to  his  prayer  of  faith.  We  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  keep  unstained  our  decent  robe  of  goodness 
when  we  herd  only  with  the  good  and  shun  the  kennel 
where  Sin  and  Misery,  parent  and  child,  are  huddled 
with  their  rags ;  we  do  not  appreciate  that  strong  and 
healthy  pureness  of  soul  which  dwelt  daily  with  iniquity, 
sat  at  meat  with  publicans  and  sinners,  and  yet  with 
such  cleanness  of  life  as  made  even  Sin  ashamed  of  its 
ugliness,  but  hopeful  to  amend.  Rarely,  almost  never, 
do  we  see  the  vast  divinity  within  that  soul,  which, 
new  though  it  was  in  the  flesh,  at  one  step  goes  before 
the  world  whole  thousands  of  years ;  judges  the  race  ; 
decides  for  us  questions  we  dare  not  agitate  as  yet,  and 
breathes  the  very  breath  of  heavenly  love.  The  Chris- 
tian world,  aghast  at  this  venerable  beauty  in  the  flesh  ; 
transfixed  with  wonder  as  such  a  spirit  rises  in  his 
heavenly  flight,  veils  its  face  and  says.  It  is  a  God ; 
such  thoughts  are  not  for  men ;  the  life  betrays  the 
Deity.  And  is  it  not  the  Divine  which  the  flesh  en- 
shrouds;    to   speak   in   figures,  the  brightness   of   His 


286  NOBLENESS    OF   JESUS. 

glory,  the  express  image  of  His  person ;  the  clear 
resemblance  of  the  All-beautiful ;  the  likeness  of  God 
in  which  Man  is  made  ?  But  alas  for  us,  we  read  our 
lesson  backward ;  make  a  God  of  our  brother,  who 
should  be  our  Servant  and  Helper.  So  the  new-fledged 
eaglets  may  see  the  parent  bird,  slow  rising  at  first  with 
laborious  efforts,  then  cleaving  the  air  with  sharp  and 
steady  wing,  and  soaring  through  the  clouds,  with  eye 
undazzled,  to  meet  the  sun  ;  they  may  say.  We  can 
only  pray  to  the  strong  pinion.  But  anon,  their  wings 
shall  grow,  and  flutter  impatient  for  congenial  skies, 
and  their  parent's  example  guide  them  on.  But  men  are 
still  so  sunk  in  sloth,  so  blind  and  deaf  with  sensuality 
and  sin,  they  will  not  see  the  greatness  of  Man  in  him, 
who,  falling  back  on  the  inspiration  God  normally  im- 
parts, asks  no  aid  of  mortal  men,  but  stands  alone,  serene 
in  awful  loveliness,  not  fearing  the  roar  of  the  street,  the 
hiss  of  the  temple,  the  contempt  of  his  townsmen,  the 
coldness  of  this  disciple,  the  treachery  of  that;  who 
still  bore  up,  had  freest  communion  when  all  alone ; 
was  deserted,  never  forsaken ;  betrayed,  but  still  safe ; 
crucified,  but  all  the  more  triumphant.  This  was 
the  victory  of  the  Soul :  a  Man  of  the  highest  type. 
Blessed  be  God  that  so  much  manliness  has  been 
lived  out,  and  stands  there  yet,  a  lasting  monument  to 
mark  how  high  the  tides  of  divine  life  have  risen  in  the 
human  world.  It  bids  us  take  courage,  and  be  glad, 
for  what  Man  has  done,  he  may  do ;  yea  more. 

"  Jesus,  there  is  no  dearer  name  than  thine, 
Which  Time  has  blazoned  on  his  mighty  scroll ; 
No  wreaths  nor  garlands  ever  did  entwine 
So  fair  a  temple  of  so  vast  a  soul. 
There  every  Virtue  set  his  triumph-seal ; 
Wisdom  conjoined  with  Strength  and  radiant  Grace, 


NOBLENESS    OF   JESUS.  287 

In  a  sweet  copy  Heaven  to  reveal, 

And  stamp  Perfection  on  a  mortal  face  ; 

Once  on  the  earth  wert  thou,  before  men's  eyes, 

That  did  not  half  thy  beauteous  brightness  see  ; 

E'en  as  the  Emmet  does  not  read  the  skies, 

Nor  our  weak  orbs  look  through  immensity. 

Once  on  the  earth  wert  thou,  a  living  Shrine, 

Wherein  conjoining  dwelt,  the  Good,  the  Lovely,  the  Divine." 

Here  was  the  greatest  soul  of  all  the  sons  of  men  ;  a 
man  of  genius  for  Religion  ;  one  before  whom  the  ma- 
jestic mind  of  Grecian  sages,  and  of  Hebrew  seers  must 
veil  its  face.  Try  him  as  we  try  other  teachers.  They 
deliver  their  word,  find  a  few  waiting  for  the  consola- 
tion, who  accept  the  new  tidings,  follow  the  new  meth- 
od, and  soon  go  beyond  their  teacher,  though  less  mighty 
minds  than  he.  Such  is  the  case  with  each  founder  of 
a  school  in  Philosophy,  each  sfect  in  Religion.  Though 
humble  men,  we  see  what  Socrates  and  Luther  never 
saw.  But  eighteen  centuries  have  past  since  the  tide  of 
humanity  rose  so  high  in  Jesus ;  what  man,  what  sect, 
what  church  has  mastered  his  noblest  thought ;  com- 
prehended his  method,  and  fully  applied  it  to  life  !  Let 
the  world  answer  in  its  cry  of  anguish.  Men  have 
parted  his  raiment  among  them ;  cast  lots  for  his  seam- 
less coat ;  but  that  spirit  which  toiled  so  manfully  in  a 
world  of  sin  and  death  ;  which  did  and  suffered,  and 
overcame  the  world,  —  is  that  found,  possessed,  under- 
stood ?  Nay,  is  it  sought  for  and  recommended  by  any 
of  our  churches  ? 

But  no  excellence  of  aim  ;  no  sublimity  of  achieve- 
ment could  screen  him  from  distress  and  suffering.  The 
fate  of  all  Saviours  was  his  —  despised  and  rejected  of 
men.    His  father's  children  "  did  not  believe  in  him ; "  his 


28H  THE   OPPOSITION   HE  MET. 

townsmen  "  were  offended  at  him,"  and  said,  "  whence 
hath  he  this  wisdom  ?  Is  not  this  the  son  of  Joseph, 
the  carpenter  ?  "  Those  learned  scribes  who  came  all 
the  way  from  Jerusalem  to  entangle  him  in  his  talk, 
could  see  only  this,  "  He  hath  Beelzebub."  "  Art  thou 
greater  than  our  father  Jacob  ?  "  a  conservative  might 
ask.  Some  said,  "  He  is  a  good  man."  "  Ay,"  said 
others,  but  "  He  speaketh  against  the  temple."  The 
sharp-eyed  Pharisees  saw"  nothing  marvellous  in  the 
case.  Why  not  ?  They  were  looking  for  signs  and 
wonders  in  the  heavens  ;  not  Sermons  on  the  Mount, 
and  a  "  Wo-unto-you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  Hypo- 
crites ; "  they  looked  for  the  Son  of  David,  a  king,  to 
rule  over  men's  bodies,  not  the  son  of  a  peasant-girl, 
born  in  a  stable,  the  companion  of  fishermen,  the 
friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,  who  spoke  to  the  out- 
cast, brought  in  the  lost  sheep,  and  so  ruled  in  the  soul, 
his  kingdom  not  of  this  world.  They  said,  "  He  is  a 
Galilean,  and  of  course  no  prophet."  If  he  called  men 
away  from  the  senses  to  the  soul,  they  said,  "  He  is  be- 
side himself."  "  Have  any  of  the  Rulers  or  the  Phari- 
sees believed  on  him?"  asked  some  one  who  thought 
the  answer  would  settle  the  matter.  When  he  said,  if 
a  man  live  by  God's  law,  "he  shall  never  see  death," 
they  exclaimed,  those  precious  shepherds  of  the  people, 
"  Now  we  know  thou  hast  a  devil,  and  art  mad.  Abra- 
ham is  dead,  and  the  prophets  !  Art  thou  greater  than 
our  father  Abraham  ?  Who  are  you,  sir  ?  "  What  a 
faithful  report  would  Scribes  and  Pharisees  and  Doc- 
tors of  the  Law,  have  made  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount ;  what  omissions  and  redundancies  would  they 
not  have  found  in  it;  what  blasphemy  against  Moses 
and  the  Law,  and  the  Ai'k  of  the  Covenant,  and  the 
Urim  and  the  Thummin,  and  the  Meat-offering  and  the 


MISREPRESENTATION    EY   THE   PRIESTS.  289 

New-moons  ;  what  neglect  to  mention  the  phylacteries, 
and  the  shewbread  and  the  Levite,  and  the  priest  and 
the  tithes,  and  the  other  great  "  essentials  of  Religion ; " 
what  "  infidelity  "  must  these  pious  souls  have  detected  I 
How  must  they  have  classed  him  with  Korah,  Dathan, 
and  Abiram,  the  mythological  "  Tom-Paines "  of  old 
time;  with  the  men  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah!  The 
popular  praise  of  the  young  Nazarene,  with  his  divine 
life  and  lip  of  fire;  the  popular  shout,  "  Hosannati  to 
the  Son  of  David,"  was  no  doubt  "  a  stench  in  the 
nostrils  of  the  righteous,"  "  When  the  Son  of  Man 
cometh,  shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth  ?  "  Find  Faith? 
He  comes  to  bring  it  It  is  only  by  crucified  redeemers 
that  the  world  is  "  saved."  Prophets  are  doomed  to  be 
stoned ;  apostles  to  be  sawn  asunder.  The  world 
knoweth  its  own  and  loveth  them.  Even  so  let  it  be ; 
the  stoned  prophet  is  not  without  his  reward.  The 
balance  of  God  is  even* 

Yet  there  were  men  who  heard  the  new  word.  Truth 
never  yet  fell  dead  in  the  streets  ;  it  has  such  affinity 
with  the  Soul  of  Man,  the  seed,  however  broadcast, 
will  catch  somewhere,  and  produce  its  hundred-fold. 
Some  kept  his  sayings  and  pondered  them  in  their 
heart  Others  heard  him  gladly.  Did  priests  and  Le- 
vites  stop  their  ears  ?  Publicans  and  harlots  went  into 
the  kingdom  of  God  before  them.  Those  blessed  wo- 
men, whose  hearts  God  has  sown  deepest  with  the 
orient  pearl  of  faith  ;  they  who  ministered  to  him  in  his 
wants,  washed  his  feet  with  tears  of  penitence,  and 
wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  their  head,  was  it  in  vain 
he  spoke  to  them  ?  Alas  for  the  anointed  priest,  the 
child  of  Levi,  the  son  of  Aaron,  ^men  who  shut  up  in- 
spiration in  old  books,  and  believed  God  was  asleep. 
They  stumbled  in  darkness,  and  fell  into  the  ditch.    But 

25 


290  THE  TRUE  HEAR  THE  TRUTH. 

doubtless  there  was  many  a  tear-stained  face  that 
brightened  like  fires  new  stirred  as  Truth  spoke  out  of 
Jesus'  lips.  His  words  swayed  the  multitude  as  pen- 
dant vines  swing  in  the  summer  wind ;  as  the  spirit  of 
God  moved  on  the  waters  of  chaos,  and  said,  "  Let  there 
be  light,"  and  there  was  light.  No  doubt  many  a  rude 
fisherman  of  Gennesareth  heard  his  words  with  a  heart 
bounding  and  scarce  able  to  keep  in  his  bosom,  went 
home  a  new  man,  with  a  legion  of  angels  in  his  breast, 
and  from  that  day  lived  a  life  divine  and  beautiful.  No 
doubt,  on  the  other  hand.  Rabbi  Kozeb  Ben  Shatan, 
when  he  heard  of  this  eloquent  Nazarene,  and  his  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  said  to  his  disciples  in  private  at 
Jerusalem,  This  new  doctrine  will  not  injure  us,  pru- 
dent and  educated  men  ;  we  know  that  men  may  wor- 
ship as  well  out  of  the  temple  as  in  it ;  a  burnt-offering 
is  nothing  ;  the  ritual  of  no  value  ;  the  Sabbath  like  any 
other  day  ;  the  Law  faulty  in  many  things,  offensive 
in  some,  and  no  more  from  God  than  other  laws  equally 
good.  We  know  that  the  priesthood  is  a  human  affair, 
originated  and  managed  like  other  human  affairs.  We 
may  confess  all  this  to  ourselves,  but  what  is  the  use  of 
telling  of  it?  The  people  wish  to  be  deceived;  let 
them.  The  Pharisee  will  behave  wisely  like  a  Phari- 
see —  for  he  sees  the  eternal  fitness  of  thinors  —  even  if 
these  doctrines  should  be  proclaimed.  But  this  people, 
who  know  not  the  law,  what  will  become  of  them  ? 
Simon  Peter,  James  and  John,  those  poor  unlettered 
fishermen,  on  the  lake  of  Galilee,  to  whom  we  gave 
a  farthing  and  the  priestly  blessing  in  our  summer  ex- 
cursion, what  will  become  of  them  when  told  that  every 
word  of  the  Law  d^d  not  come  straight  out  of  the 
mouth  of  Jehovah,  and  the  ritual  is  nothing  I  They 
will  go  over  to  the  Flesh  and  the  Devil,  and  be  lost.     It 


RECEPTION    OF   HIS    WORDS.  291 

is  true,  that  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  are  well  summed 
up  in  one  word,  Love  God  and  Man.  But  never  let  us 
sanction  the  saying;  it  would  ruin  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
keep  back  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  destroy  our  use- 
fulness." ^ 

Thus  went  it  at  Jerusalem.  The  new  word  was 
"  Blasphemy,"  the  new  prophet  an  "  Infidel,"  "  beside 
himself,"  had  "  a  devil."  But  at  Galilee,  things  took  a 
shape  somewhat  different;  one  which  blind  guides 
could  not  foresee.  The  common  people,  not  knowing 
the  Law,  counted  him  a  prophet  come  up  from  the  dead, 
and  heard  him  gladly.  Yes,  thousands  of  men,  and 
women  also,  with  hearts  in  their  bosoms,  gathered  in 
the  field  and  pressed  about  him  in  the  city  and  the  des- 
ert place,  forgetful  of  hunger  and  thirst,  and  were  fed 
to  the  full  with  his  words,  so  deep  a  child  could  under- 
stand them ;  James  and  John  leave  all  to  follow  him 
who  has  the  word  of  eternal  life  ;  and  when  that  young 
carpenter  asks  Peter,  Whom  sayest  thou  that  I  am  ? 
it  had  been  revealed  to  that  poor  unlettered  fisherman, 
not  by  flesh  and  blood,  but  by  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
and  he  can  say.  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God.  The  Pharisee  went  his  way,  and  preached 
a  doctrine  that  he  knew  was  false  ;  the  fisherman 
also  went  his  way,  but  which  to  the  Flesh  and  the 
Devil?  2 

We  cannot  tell,  no  man  can  tell  the  feelings  which 
ihe  large  free  doctrines  of  such  humane  Religion  awa- 
kened when  heard  for  the  first  time.  There  must  have 
been  many  a  Simeon  waiting  for  the  consolation ;  many 

'  Parker,  Miscellanies,  Art.  VII.  ;  and  Speeches,  Vol.  1.  Art.  I. 
^  Parker,  Mi.>cellanies,  Art.  XI. 


292  FIRST   EFFECT   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

a  Mary  longing  for  the  better  part;  many  a  soul  in 
cabins  and  cottages  and  stately  dwellings,  that  caught 
glimpses  of  the  same  truth  as  God's  light  shone  through 
some  crevice  which  Piety  made  in  that  wall  Prejudice 
and  Superstition  had  built  up  betwixt  Man  and  God  ; 
men  who  scarce  dared  to  trust  that  revelation  —  "  too 
good  to  be  true  "  —  such  was  their  awe  of  Moses,  their 
reverence  for  the  priest.  To  them  the  word  of  Jesus 
must  have  sounded  divine ;  like  the  music  of  their 
home  sung  out  in  the  sky,  and  heard  in  a  distant  land, 
beguihng  toil  of  its  weariness,  pain  of  its  sting,  afflic- 
tion  of  despair.  There  must  have  been  men,  sick  of 
forms  which  had  lost  their  meaning;  pained  with  the 
open  secret  of  sacerdotal  hypocrisy;  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  the  truth,  yet  whom  Error,  and  Preju- 
dice, and  Priestcraft  had  blinded  so  that  they  dared  not 
think  as  men,  nor  look  on  the  sunlight  God  shed  upon 
the  mind. 

But  see  what  a  work  it  has  wrought.  Men  could 
not  hold  the  word  in  their  bosoms ;  it  would  not  be 
still.  No  doubt  they  sought  —  those  rude  disciples  — 
after  their  teacher's  death,  to  quiet  the  matter  and  say 
nothing  about  it ;  they  had  nerves  which  quivered  at 
the  touch  of  steel ;  wives  and  children  whom  it  was 
hard  to  leave  behind,  to  the  world's  uncertain  sympa- 
thy ;  respectable  friends  it  may  be,  who  said.  The  old 
Law  did  very  well ;  let  well  enough  alone;  the  people 
must  be  deceived  a  little  ;  the  world  can  never  be  much 
mended  !  No  doubt  the  Truth  stood  on  one  side,  and 
Ease  on  the  other ;  it  has  often  been  so.  Perhaps  the 
disciples  went  to  the  old  synagogue  more  sedulous 
than  before ;  paid  tithes  ;  kept  the  new-moons  ;  were 
sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  ;  made  low 
bows  to  the  Levite  ;    sought  his  savory  conversation, 


CHRISTIANITY    AGAINST   THE    WORLD.  293 

and  kept  the  rules  which  a  priest  gave  George  Fox. 
But  it  would  not  do.  There  was  too  much  truth  to  be 
hid.  Even  selfish  Simon  Peter  has  a  cloven  tongue 
of  fire  in  his  mouth,  and  he  and  the  disciples  go  to 
their  work,  the  new  word  swelling  in  their  laboring 
heart.i 

Then  came  the  strangest  contest  the  world  ever 
saw.  On  the  one  side  was  all  the  strength  of  the 
world  —  the  Jews  with  their  Records,  from  the  hand  of 
Moses,  David,  and  Esaias;  "supernatural  records,"  that 
go  back  to  the  birth  of  time;  their  Law  derived  from 
Jehovah,  attested  by  miracles,  upheld  by  prophets,  de- 
fended by  priests,  children  of  Levi,  sons  of  Aaron,  the 
Law  which  was  to  last  forever  ;  the  Temple,  forty  and 
'  and  seven  years  in  being  built,  its  splendid  ceremonies, 
its  beautiful  gate  and  golden  porch  ;  there  was  the 
wealth  of  the  powerful ;  the  pride,  the  self-interest,  the 
prejudice  of  the  priestly  class ;  the  indifference  of  the 
worldly ;  the  hatred  of  the  wicked ;  the  scorn  of  the 
learned  ;  the  contempt  of  the  great.  On  the  same  side 
were  the  Greeks,  with  their  Chaos  of  Religion,  full  of 
mingled  beauty  and  ugliness,  virtue  and  vice,  piety  and 
lust,  still  more  confounded  by  the  deep  mysteries  of  the 
priest,  the  cunning  speculations  of  the  sophist,  the 
awful  sublimity  of  the  sage,  by  the  sweet  music  of  the 
philosopher,  and  moralist  and  poet,  who  spoke  and  sung 
of  man  and  God  in  strains  so  sweet  and  touching; 
there  were  rites  in  public ;  solemn  and  pompous  cere- 
monies, processions,  festivals,  temples,  games  to  capti- 
vate that  wondrous  people  ;  there  were  secret  mysteries, 
to  charm  the  curious  and  attract  the  thoughtful ;  Greece, 

^  See   Sermon  of  tlie  Eelation  of  Jesus  to  his  Age  and  the  Ages, 
by  Theodore  Parker  in  Speeches,  Vol.  I.  Art.  I. 

25* 


294  THE   CONTEST   BETWEEN 

with  her  Arts,  her  Science,  her  Heroes  and  her  Gods, 
her  Muse  voluptuous  and  sweet.  There  too  was  Rome, 
the  Queen  of  nations,  and  Conqueror  of  the  world, 
who  sat  on  her  seven -hilled  throne,  and  cast  her  net 
eastward  and  southward  and  northward  and  westward, 
over  tower  and  city  and  realm  and  empire,  and  drew 
them  to  herself,  a  giant's  spoil ;  with  a  form  of  Religion 
haughty  and  insolent,  that  looked  down  on  the  divini- 
ties of  Greece  and  Egypt,  of  "  Ornius  and  the  Ind," 
and  gave  them  a  shelter  in  her  capacious  robe  :  Rome, 
with  her  practised  skill ;  Rome,  with  her  eloquence; 
Rome,  with  her  pride ;  Rome,  with  her  arms,  hot  from 
the  conquest  of  a  thousand  kings.  On  the  same  side 
were  all  the  institutions  of  all  the  world  ;  its  fables, 
wealth,  armies,  pride,  its  folly  and  its  sin. 

On  the  other  hand,  were  a  few  Jewish  fishermen,  un- 
taught, rude,  and  vulgar ;  not  free  from  gross  errors ; 
despised  at  home,  and  not  known  abroad ;  collected 
together  in  the  name  of  an  enthusiastic  young  carpen- 
ter, who  died  on  the  gallows  fancying  himself  the  Mes- 
siah and  that  the  world  would  perish  soon  —  and  whom 
they  declared  to  be  risen  from  the  dead  ;  men  with  no 
ritual,  no  learning,  no  books,  no  brass  in  their  purse,  no 
philosophy  in  their  mind,  no  eloquence  on  their  tongue. 
A  Roman  Sceptic  might  tell  how  soon  these  fanatics 
would  fall  out,  and  destroy  themselves,  after  serving  as 
a  terror  to  the  maids  and  a  sport  to  the  boys  of  a 
Jewish  hamlet,  and  so  that  "  detestable  superstition  " 
come  to  an  end  !  A  priest  of  Jerusalem,  with  his 
oracular  gossip,  could  tell  how  long  the  Sanhedrim 
would  suffer  them  to  go  at  large;  in  the  name  of  "  that 
deceiver,"  whose  body  "they  stole  away  by  night!" 
Alas  for  what  man  calls  great;  the  pride  of  prejudice; 
the  boast  of  power.     These  fishermen  of  Galilee  have 


THE    WORLD    AND    CHRISTIANITY.  295 

a  truth  the  world  has  not,  so  they  are  stronger  than  the 
world.  Ten  weak  men  may  chain  down  a  giant ;  but 
no  combination  of  errors  can  make  a  Truth  or  put  it 
down  ;  no  army  of  the  ignorant  equals  one  man  who 
has  the  Word  of  Life.  Besides,  all  the  old  Truth  in 
Judea,  Greece,  Rome,  was  an  auxiliary  to  favor  the 
new  Truth. 

The  first  preachers  of  Christianity  had  false  notions 
on  many  points ;  they  were  full  of  Jewish  fables  and 
technicalities  ;  thought  the  world  would  soon  end,  and 
Jesus  come  back  "  with  power  and  great  glory."  Peter 
would  now  and  then  lie  to  serve  his  turn ;  Paul  was 
passionate,  often  one-sided,  dogmatic,  and  mistaken ; 
Barnabas  and  Mark  could  not  agree.  There  was  some- 
thing of  furious  enthusiasm  in  all  these  come-outers. 
James  thunders  like  a  "  Fanatic  "  or  "  Radical  "  at  the 
rich  man,  not  without  cause ;  they  soon  had  divisions 
and  persecutions  among  themselves,  foes  in  the  new 
household  of  Christianity.  But,  spite  of  the  follies  or 
limitations  of  these  earnest  and  manly  Jews,  a  religious 
fire  burned  in  their  hearts  ;  the  Word  of  God  grew  and 
prevailed.  The  new  doctrine  passes  from  its  low  be- 
ginnings on  the  Galilean  lake,  step  by  step,  through 
Jerusalem,  Ephesus,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  Corinth, 
Rome,  till  it  ascends  the  throne  of  the  world,  and  kings 
and  empires  lie  prostrate  at  its  feet.^  But  alas,  as  it 
spreads  it  is  corrupted  also.  Judaism,  Paganism,  Idol- 
atry, mingle  their  feculent  scum  with  the  living  stream, 
and  trouble  still  more  and  further  the  water  of  Life. 

Christianity  came  to  the  world  in  the  darkness  of  the 
nations ;  they  had  outgrown  their  old  form,  and  looked 

^  Parker,  Miscellanies,  Art.  I.  and  XI. 


296  FEARS    FOR   CHRISTIANITY. 

for  a  new.  They  stood  in  the  shadow  of  darkness, 
fearing  to  go  back,  not  daring  to  look  forward  ;  they 
groped  after  God.  The  Piety  and  Morality  which 
Jesus  taught  and  lived  came  to  the  Nations  as  a  beam 
of  light  shot  into  chaos ;  a  strain  of  sweet  music,  —  so 
silvery  and  soft  we  know  not  we  are  listening,  —  to 
him  who  wanders  on  amid  the  uncertain  gloom,  and 
charms  him  to  the  Light,  to  the  River  of  God  and  the 
Tree  of  Life.  It  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of 
holy  hearts,  human  Religion,  human  Morality,  and 
above  all  things  revealing  the  Greatness  of  Man. 

It  is  sometimes  feared  that  Christianity  is  in  danger ; 
that  its  days  are  numbered.^  Of  the  Christianity  of 
the  Churches,  no  doubt  it  is  true.  That  child  of  many 
fathers  cannot  die  too  soon.  It  cumbers  the  gi'ound. 
The  errors  which  Jesus  taught  will  also  fall  and  die.  But 
Absolute  Religion,  Absolute  Morality,  cannot  perish  ; 
never  till  Love,  Goodness,  Devotion,  Faith,  Reason,  fail 
from  the  heart  of  man  ;  never  till  God  melts  away  and 
vanishes,  and  nothing  takes  the  place  of  the  All-in- All. 
Religion  can  no  more  be  separated  from  the  race  than 
thought  and  feeling ;  nor  Absolute  Religion  die  out 
more  than  wisdom  perish  from  among  men.  Man's 
words,  thoughts,  churches,  fail  and  pass  off  like  clouds 
from  the  sky  that  leave  no  track  behind.  But  God's 
Word  can  never  change.  It  shines  perennial  like  the 
stars.  Its  testimony  is  in  man's  heart.  None  can  out- 
gi'ow  it ;  none  destroy.  For  eighteen  hundred  years, 
this   Christianity  of  Christ   has  been  in  the  world,  to 

^  See  Comte  and  Leroux,  ubi  sup.  passim,  and  de  Potter,  Hist.  Phil- 
osophique  politique  et  critique  du  Christianisme  ;  Bruxelles,  1838^  Vd. 
I.  Introd.  §  1. 


CHRISTIANITY   NOT   TRANSIENT.  297 

warn  and  encourage."  Violence  and  Cunning,  allies  of 
Sin,  have  opposed.  Every  weapon  Learning  could 
snatch  from  the  arsenals  of  the  past,  or  Science  devise 
anew,  or  Pride,  and  Cruelty,  and  Wit  invent,  has  been 
used  by  mistaken  men  to  destroy  this  fabric.  Not  a 
stone  has  fallen  from  the  heavenly  arch  of  real  Religion ; 
not  a  loophole  been  found  where  a  shot  could  enter. 
But  alas,  vain  doctrines,  follies,  absurdities,  without 
count,  have  been  piled  against  the  temple  of  God, 
marring  its  beauteous  shape.  That  Religion  continues 
to  live,  spite  of  the  traditions,  fables,  doctrines  wrapped 
about  it — is  proof  enough  of  its  truth.  Reason  never 
warred  against  love  of  God  and  Man,  never  with 
the  Absolute  Religion,  but  always  with  that  of  the 
Churches.!  There  is  much  destructive  work  still  to  be 
done,  which  scoffers  will  attempt,  if  wise  religious  men 
withhold  the  medicative  hand. 

Can  Man  destroy  Absolute  Religion?  He  cannot 
with  all  the  arts  and  armies  of  the  world  destroy  the 
pigment  that  colors  an  emmet's  eye.  He  may  obscure 
the  Truth  to  his  own  mind.  But  it  shines  forever  un- 
changed. So  boys  of  a  summer's  day  throw  dust  above 
their  heads,  to  blind  the  sun ;  they  only  hide  it  from  their 
blinded  eyes.^ 

^Even  M.  de  Potter  wars  only  against  Christianity  "  Merarcliically 
organized."  "  Jesus  and  his  principles  of  social  equality,  of  universal 
brotherhood,  are  to  him  the  meek,  sublune  manifestation  of  the  moral 
man,"  ubi  sup..  Vol.  I.  p.  ii. 

'  Parker,  ubi  sup..  Art.  VI.  Of  the  Transient  and  Permanent  in 
Christianity.  See  also  Speeches  and  Occasional  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  Art. 
i.  ii.  xii.  Sermons  of  Theism,  etc.,  Serm.  III.- VI. 


BOOK  IV. 


(299) 


*'  No  man  would  be  so  ridiculous  as  (since  Columbus  discovered  the  new  world  of 
America,  as  big  as  the  old,  since  the  enlarged  knowledge  of  the  North  of  Europe,  the 
South  and  East  of  Asia  and  Africa,  besides  the  new  divisions,  names,  and  inhabitants 
of  the  old  parts),  to  forbid  the  reading  of  any  more  Geography  than  is  found  in  Strabo, 
or  Mela  ;  or,  since  the  Portuguese  have  sailed  to  the  Indias  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
to  admit  of  no  other  Indian  commodities  than  what  are  brought  on  Camels  to  Aleppo  ; 
or  if  posterity  shall  find  out  the  North-east  or  North-west  way  to  Cathajo  and  China,  or 
shall  cut  the  Isthmus  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean,  will  it  be  unlawful 
to  use  the  advantage  of  such  noble  achievements?  If  anj-  man  love  acorns  since  corn 
is  invented,  let  him  eat  acorns;  but  it  is  very  unreasonable  he  should  forbid  others  the 
use  of  wheat.  "V\Tiatever  is  solid  in  the  writings  of  Aristotle,  these  new  philosophers 
will  readily  embrace  ;  and  they  that  are  most  accused  for  affecting  the  neio,  doubt  not 
but  they  can  give  as  good  an  account  of  the  old  philosophy  as  their  most  violent 
accusers,  and  are  probably  as  much  conversant  in  Aristotle's  writings,  though  they  do 
not  much  value  these  small  wares  that  are  usually  retailed  by  the  generality  of  his 
interpreters."  A  brief  Account  of  the  new  sect  of  Latitudemen,  by  G.  B.  Oxford,  1662, 
p.  13, 14. 

(300) 


BOOK  IV. 


THE  KELATION  OF  THE   RELIGIOUS  ELEMENT  TO   THE   GREAT. 
EST  OF   BOOKS,    OR    A    DISCOURSE   OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

POSITION   OF   THE   BIBLE — CLAIMS   MADE    FOR  IT — STATE- 
MENT   OF   THE    QUESTION. 

View  it  in  what  light  we  may,  the  Bible  is  a  very- 
surprising  phenomenon.  In  all  Christian  lands,  this 
collection  of  books  is  separated  from  every  other,  and 
called  sacred ;  others  are  profane.  Science  may  differ 
from  them,  not  from  this.  It  is  deemed  a  condescen- 
sion on  the  part  of  its  friends,  to  show  its  agreement 
with  Reason.  How  much  has  been  written  by  conde- 
scending theologians  to  show  the  Bible  was  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  demonstrations  of  Newton !  Should  a 
man  attempt  to  reestablish  the  cosmogonies  of  Hesiod 
and  Sanchoniathon,  to  allegorize  the  poems  of  Anacreon 
and  Theocritus  as  divines  mystify  the  Scripture,  it 
would  be  said  he  wasted  his  oil,  and  truly.^ 

^  See  the  recent  literature  relating  to  a  Plurality  of  Worlds  for 
another  illustration. 

26  [801] 


302  THE   INFLUENCE   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

This  collection  of  books  has  taken  such  a  hold  on 
the  world  as  no  other.  The  literature  of  Greece,  which 
goes  up  like  incense  from  that  land  of  temples  and 
heroic  deeds,  has  not  half  the  influence  of  this  book 
from  a  nation  alike  despised  in  ancient  and  modern 
times.  It  is  read  of  a  Sunday  in  all  the  thirty  thou- 
sand pulpits  of  our  land.  In  all  the  temples  of  Chris- 
tendom is  its  voice  lifted  up,  week  by  week.  The  sun 
never  sets  on  its  gleaming  page.  It  goes  equally  to  the 
cottage  of  the  plain  man  and  the  palace  of  the  king 
It  is  woven  into  the  literature  of  the  scholar,  and  colors 
the  talk  of  the  street.  The  bark  of  the  merchant  cannot 
sail  the  sea  without  it ;  no  ship  of  war  goes  to  the  conflict 
but  the  Bible  is  there  !  It  enters  men's  closets ;  mingles 
in  all  the  grief  and  cheerfulness  of  life.  The  affianced 
maiden  prays  God  in  Scripture  for  strength  in  her  new 
duties  ;  men  are  married  by  Scripture.  The  Bible  at- 
tends them  in  their  sickness ;  when  the  fever  of  the 
world  is  on  them,  the  aching  head  finds  a  softer  pillow 
if  such  leaves  lie  underneath.  The  mariner,  escaping 
from  shipwreck,  clutches  this  first  of  his  treasures,  and 
keeps  it  sacred  to  God.  It  goes  with  the  peddler,  in  his 
crowded  pack  ;  cheers  him  at  eventide,  when  he  sits 
down  dusty  and  fatigued ;  brightens  the  freshness  of 
his  morning  face.  It  blesses  us  when  we  are  born ; 
gives  names  to  half  Christendom ;  rejoices  with  us ; 
has  sympathy  for  our  mourning ;  tempers  our  gi*ief  to 
finer  issues.  It  is  the  better  part  of  our  sermons.  It 
lifts  man  above  himself;  our  best  of  uttered  prayers  arr 
in  its  storied  speech,  wherewith  our  fathers  and  the  patri- 
archs prayed.  The  timid  man,  about  awaking  from 
this  dream  of  life,  looks  through  the  glass  of  Scripture 
and  his  eye  grows  bright ;  -he  does  not  fear  to  stand 
alone,  to  tread  the  way  unknown   and  distant,  to  take 


ITS   DEEP   AND   LASTING    POWER.  303 

the  death-angel  by  the  hand  and  bid  farewell  to  wife, 
and  babes,  and  home.  Men  rest  on  this  their  dearest 
hopes.  It  tells  them  of  God,  and  of  his  blessed  Son ; 
of  earthly  duties  and  of  heavenly  rest.  Foolish  men 
find  it  the  source  of  Plato's  wisdom,  and  the  science  of 
Newton,  and  the  art  of  Raphael ;  wicked  men  use  it  to 
rivet  the  fetters  on  the  slave.  Men  who  believe  nothing 
else  that  is  spiritual,  believe  the  Bible  all  through  ;  with- 
out this  they  would  not  confess,  say  they,  even  that 
there  was  a  God. 

Now  for  such  effects  there  must  be  an  adequate 
cause.  That  nothing  comes  of  nothing  is  true  all  the 
world  over.  It  is  no  light  thing  to  hold,  with  an  electric 
chain,  a  thousand  hearts  though  but  an  hour,  beating 
and  bounding  with  such  fiery  speed.  What  is  it  then 
to  hold  the  Christian  world,  and  that  for  centuries? 
Are  men  fed  with  chaff"  and  husks  ?  The  authors  we 
reckon  great,  whose  word  is  in  the  newspaper,  and  the 
market-place,  whose  articulate  breath  now  sways  the 
nation's  mind,  will  soon  pass  away,  giving  place  to 
other  great  men  of  a  season,  who  in  their  turn  shall 
follow  them  to  eminence,  and  then  oblivion.  Some 
thousand  "  famous  writers  "  come  up  in  this  century,  to  be 
forgotten  in  the  next.  But  the  silver  cord  of  the  Bible 
is  not  loosed,  nor  its  golden  bowl  broken,  as  Time 
chronicles  his  tens  of  centuries  passed  by.  Has  the 
human  race  gone  mad  ?  Time  sits  as  a  refiner  of 
metal;  the  dross  is  piled  in  forgotten  heaps,  but  the 
pure  gold  is  reserved  for  use,  passes  into  the  ages,  and 
is  current  a  thousand  years  hence  as  well  as  to-day.  It 
is  only  real  merit  that  can  long  pass  for  such.  Tinsel 
will  rust  in  the  storms  of  life.  False  weights  are  soon 
detected  there.  It  is  only  a  heart  that  can  speak,  deep 
and  true,  to  a  heart ;  a  mind  to  a  mind ;  a  soul  to  a 


304  CLAIMS  MADE  FOR  THE  BIBLE. 

soul;  wisdom  to  the  wise,  and  religion  to  the  pious. 
There  must  then  be  in  the  Bible,  mind,  conscience, 
heart  and  soul,  wisdom  and  religion.  Were  it  other- 
wise how  could  millions  find  it  their  lawgiver,  friend, 
and  prophet  ?  Some  of  the  greatest  of  human  institu- 
tions seem  built  on  the  Bible ;  such  things  will  not 
stand  on  heaps  of  chaff  but  mountains- of  rocks. 

What  is  the  secret  cause  of  this  wide  and  deep  in- 
fluence ?  It  must  be  found  in  the  Bible  itself,  and  must 
be  adequate  to  the  effect.  To  answer  the  question  we 
must  examine  the  Bible,  and  see  whence  it  comes,  what 
it  contains,  and  by  what  authority  it  holds  its  place. 
If  we  look  superficially,  it  is  a  collection  of  books  in 
human  language,  from  different  authors  and  times;  we 
refer  it  to  a  place  amongst  other  books  and  proceed  to 
examine  it  as  the  works  of  Homer  and  Xenophon. 
But  the  popular  opinion  bids  us  beware,  for  we  tread 
on  holy  ground.  The  opinion  commonly  expressed  by 
the  Protestant  churches  is  this :  The  Bible  is  a  miracu- 
lous collection  of  miraculous  books ;  every  word  it  con- 
tains was  written  by  a  miraculous  inspiration  from 
God,  which  was  so  full,  complete,  and  infallible,  that 
the  authors  delivered  the  truth  and  nothing  but  the 
truth ;  that  the  Bible  contains  no  false  statement  of 
doctrine  or  fact,  but  sets  forth  all  religious  and  moral 
truth  which  man  needs,  or  which  it  is  possible  for  him 
to  receive  in,  and,no  particle  of  error :  —  therefore  that  the 
Bible  is  the  only  authoritative  rule  of  religious  faith  and 
practice.^     To  doubt  this  is  reckoned  a  dangerous  error, 

^  It  is  scarce  necessary  to  cite  authorities  to  prove  this  statement,  as 
it  is  a  notorious  fact.  But  see  the  most  obvious  sources,  Westminster 
Catechism,  Quest.  2  ;  Calvin's  Institutes,  Book  I.  Ch.  VI.-IX. ;  Knapp, 
ubi  sup.  §  1-13,  especially  Vol.  I.  p.  130,  et  seq.     See  also  Gaussen's 


MASTER   OF   THE   SOUL.  305 

if  not  an  unpardonable  sin.  This  is  the  supernatural 
view.  Some  scholars  slyly  reject  the  divine  authority 
of  the  Old  Testament.  Others  reject  it  openly,  but 
cling  strongly  as  ever  to  the  New.  Some  make  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  genuine  and  the  spurious  books 
of  the  New  Testament ;  thus  there  is  a  difference  in  the 
less  or  more  of  an  inspired  and  miraculous  canon.  The 
modern  Unitarians  have  perhaps  reduced  the  Scripture 
to  its  lowest  terms.  But  Protestants,  in  general,  in 
America,  agree  that  in  the  whole  or  in  part  the  Bible  is 
an  infallible  and  exclusive  standard  of  religious  and 
moral  truth.  The  Bible  is  master  to  the  Soul ;  superior 
to  Intellect;  truer  than  Conscience ;  greater  and  more 
trustworthy  than  the  Affections  and  the  Soul. 

Accordingly,  with  strict  logical  consistency,  a  pecu- 
liar method  is  used  both  in  the  criticism  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Bible ;  such  as  men  apply  to  no  other 
ancient  documents.  A  deference  is  paid  to  it  wholly 
independent  of  its  intrinsic  merit.  It  is  presupposed 
that  each  book  within  the  lids  of  the  Bible  has  an 
absolute  right  to  be  there,  and  each  sentence  or  word 
therein  is  infallibly  true.^     Reason  has  nothing  to  do  in 

Theopneusty,  or  the  plenary  Inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
translated  by  E.  N.  Kh-k;  New  York,  1842.  The  latter  maintains 
that  "  all  the  written  Word  is  inspired  of  God  even  to  a  single  iota 
or  tittle,"  p.  333,  and  passim.  See  Musculus,  Loci  communes  ;  ed.l564, 
p.  178.  But  see  also  Faustus  Socinus,  De  Auctoritate  Sac.  Scrip,  in 
Bibliotheca  Fratrr.  Polon.  Yol.  I. ;  Limborch,  Theol.  Lib.  I. ;  Epis- 
copius,  Instit.  P.  IV. 

^  The  writings  of  most  of  the  early  Unitarians  are  exceptions  to 
this  general  rule.  They  attempted  to  separate  the  spurious  from  the 
genuine.  See  earlier  numbers  of  the  Christian  Examiner,  passim  ; 
Norton,  Statement  of  Reasons,  etc.,  p.  136,  et  seq.  Evidences  of  the 
genuineness  of  the  Gospels,  Vol.  I.  p.  hii.  et  seq.  See  especially  p. 
Ixi.  Yol.  II.  p.  cHv.  clxii.  cxciii.  and  the  whole  of  the  additional  note 

26* 


306  THE   METHOD    OF   PROVING 

the  premises,  but  accept  the  written  statement  of  "  the 
Word;"  the  duty  of  belief  is  just  the  same  whether 
the  Word  contradict  Reason  and  Conscience,  or  agrees 
with  them.^ 

This  opinion  about  the  Bible  is  true,  or  not  true.  If 
true  it  is  capable  of  proof,  at  least  of  being  shown  to  be 
probable.  Now  there  are  but  four  possible  ways  of 
establishing  the  fact,  namely  :  — 

1.  By  the  authority  of  Churches,  having  either  a 
miraculous  inspiration,  or  a  miraculous  tradition,  to 
prove  the  alleged  infallibility  of  the  Bible.  But  the 
churches  are  not  agreed  on  this  point.  The  Roman 
Church  very  stoutly  denies  the  fact,  and  besides,  the 
Protestants  deny  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Church. 

2.  By  the  direct  testimony  of  God  in  our  Conscious- 
ness assuring  us  of  the  miraculous  infallibility  of  the 
Bible.  This  would  be  at  the  best  one  miracle  to  prove 
another,  which  is  not  logical.  The  proof  is  only  sub- 
jective, and  is  as  valuable  to  prove  the  divinity  of  the 
Koran,  the  Shaster,  and  the  Book  of  Mormon,  as  that 
of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures.  It  is  the 
argument  of  the  superstitious  and  enthusiastical. 

3.  By  the  fact  that  the  Bible  claims  this  divine  infal- 
libility. This  is  reasoning  in  a  circle,  though  it  is  the 
method   commonly   relied   on   by    Christians.     It   will 

on  the  O.  T.  p.  xlviii.,  et  seq. ;  Internal  Evidences,  etc.,  (1855,)  p.  13  ; 
and  Translation  of  the  Gospels,  (1855,)  Vol.  II.  note  E.  See  also 
Stuart,  Critical  History  and  Defence  of  the  O.  T.  Canon ;  Andover, 
1845.  Dr.  Palfrey,  ubi  sup.  denies  the  miraculous  inspiration  of  all 
the  Old  Testament,  except  the  last  four  books  of  Moses,  and  there 
diminishes  its  intensity. 

^  See  Gaussen,  ubi  sup. ;  Home,  Introduction  to  the  Holy  Scriptures ; 
Pbilad.  18-iO,  Vol.  I.  p.  1-187. 


THE  DIVINITY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  307 

prove  as  well  the  divinity  of  any  impostor  who  claims 
it.i 

4.  By  an  examination  of  the  contents  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  external  history  of  its  origin.  To  proceed  in 
this  way,  we  must  ask :  Are  all  its  statements  infallibly 
true  ?  But  to  ask  this  question  presupposes  the  stand- 
ard-measure is  in  ourselves,  not  in  the  Bible  ;  so  at  the 
utmost  the  Book  can  be  no  more  infallible,  and  have 
no  more  authority  than  Reason  and  the  Moral  Sense  by 
which  we  try  it.  A  single  mistake  condemns  its  infal- 
libility, and  of  course  its  divinity.  But  the  case  is  still 
worse,  x^fter  the  truth  of  a  book  is  made  out,  before 
a  work  in  human  language  like  other  books,  can  be 
referred  to  God  as  its  author,  one  of  two  things  must 
be  shown :  either  That  its  contents  could  not  have 
come  from  man,  and  then  it  follows  by  implication 
that  they  came  from  God ;  or  That  at  a  certain  time  and 
place,  God  did  miraculously  reveal  the  contents  of  the 
book. 

Now  it  is  a  notorious  fact,  first,  that  it  has  not  been 
and  cannot  be  proved,  that  every  statement  in  the  Bible 
is  true ;  or,  secondly,  that  its  contents,  such  as  they  are, 
could  not  have  proceeded  from  man,  ander  the  ordinary 
influence  of  God ;  or,  finally,  that  any  one  book  or 
word  of  the  Bible  was  miraculously  revealed  to  man. 
In  the  absence  of  proof  for  any  one  of  these  three 
points,  it  has  been  found  a  more  convenient  way  to 
assume  the  truth  of  them  all,  and  avoid  troublesome 
questions.^ 

^  See  this  claim  made  in  the  Koran,  Sales's  translation,  London, 
new  edition,  p.  162,  et  seq.  206,  372,  400,  152,  etc.  219,  127,  et  al, 
and  the  Book  of  Mormon,  (Nauvoo,  1840,)  passim. 

^  See  some  pertinent  remarks  in  J.  H.  Thom's  Life  of  Joseph 
Blanco  White ;  London,  1845,  Vol.  L  p.  275,  et  seq. ;  Vol.  11.  p.  18, 


308  BIBLE    A   HUMAN    WORK. 

Tjaying  aside  all  prejudices,  if  we  look  into  the  Bible 
in  a  general  way,  as  into  other  books,  we  find  facts 
which  force  the  conclusion  upon  us,  that  the  Bible  is  a 
human  work,  as  much  as  the  Principia  of  Newton  or 
Descartes,  or  the  Vedas  and  Koran.  Some  things  are 
beautiful  and  true,  but  others,  no  man,  in  his  reason, 
can  accept.  Here  are  the  works  of  various  writers, 
from  the  eleventh  century  before  to  the  second  century 
j  after  Christ,  thrown  capriciously  together,  and  united 
;by  no  common  tie  but  the  lids  of  the  bookbinder. 
Here  are  two  forms  of  Religion,  which  diifer  widely, 
set  forth  and  enforced  by  miracles ;  the  one  ritual 
and  formal,  the  other  actual  and  spiritual;  the  one 
the  religion  of  Fear,  the  other  of  Love ;  one  final, 
and  resting  entirely  on  the  special  revelation  made  to 
Moses,  the  other  progressive,  based  on  the  universal 
revelation  of  God,  who  enlightens  all  that  come  into 
the  world;  one  offers  only  earthly  recompense, the  other 
makes  immortality  a  motive  to  a  divine  life  ;  one  com- 
pels men,  the  other  invites  them.  One  half  the  Bible 
repeals  the  other  half.  The  Gospel  annihilates  the 
Law ;  the  Apostles  take  the  place  of  the  Prophets,  and 
go  higher  up.  If  Christianity  and  Judaism  be  not  the 
same  thing,  there  must  be  hostility  between  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New  Testament,  for  the  Jewish  form 
claims  to  be  eternal.  To  an  unprejudiced  man  this 
hostility  is  very  obvious.  It  may  indeed  be  said  Chris- 
tianity came  not  to  destroy  the  Law  and  the  Prophets, 
but  to  fulfil  them,  and  the  answer  is  plain,  their  historic 
fulfilment  was  their  destruction. 

If  we  look  at  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  we  find  numer- 

et  seq.,  and  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Norton,  p.  250,  et  seq.  De  Wette, 
Wesen,  §  6. 


ITS  CONFLICTING  CONTENTS.  309 

OU3  contradictions  ;  conflicting  Histories  which  no  skill 
can  reconcile  with  themselves  or  with  facts ;  Poems 
which  the  Christians  have  agreed  to  take  as  histories, 
but  which  lead  only  to  confusion  on  that  hypothesis ; 
Prophecies  that  have  never  been  fulfilled,  and  from  the 
nature  of  things  never  can  be.^  We  find  stories  of 
miracles  which  could  not  have  happened ;  accounts 
which  represent  the  laws  of  nature  completely  trans- 
formed, as  in  fairy-land,  to  trust  the  tales  of  the  old 
romancers ;  stories  that  make  God  a  man  of  war,  cruel, 
capricious,  revengeful,  hateful,  and  not  to  be  trusted. 
We  find  amatory  songs,  selfish  proverbs,  skeptical  dis- 
courses, and  the  most  awful  imprecations  human  fancy 
ever  clothed  in  speech.  Connected  with  these  are  lofty 
thoughts  of  Nature,  Man,  and  God ;  devotion  touching 
and  beautiful,  and  a  most  reverent  faith.  Here  are 
works  whose  authors  are  known  ;  others  of  which  the 
author,  age,  and  country  are  alike  forgotten.  Genuine 
and  spurious  works,  religious  and  not  religious  are 
strangely  mixed.  But  the  subject  demands  a  more 
minute  and  detailed  examination  in  each  of  its  main 
parts. 

^It  is  instructive  to  see  that  the  Greeks  sometimes  regarded  the 
writings  of  Homer  with  the  same  superstitious  veneration  which  is 
often  paid  to  the  Bible.  They  found  therein  the  Neptunian  and  Vul- 
canian  theory ;  the  sphericity  of  the  earth ;  the  doctrines  of  Democ- 
ritus,  HeracUtus,  and  of  Socrates  and  Plato  in  their  turn.  See  He- 
raclides  Ponticus,  AUeg.  Horn,  in  Gale,  ubi  sup.  p.  436,  et  seq.,488,  et 
seq.  Pausanias,  IX.  41,  p.  452,  ed.  Schubert,  seriously  urges  the  ques- 
tion whether  any  works  from  the  Shop  of  Vulcan  were  then  in  exist- 
ence. According  to  Aristotle,  (de  Part.  Animal.  III.  10,  p.  87,  ed. 
Bekker,)  some  concluded  in  his  time  that  the  human  head  could  speak 
when  separated  from  the  body  —  and  that  on  the  authority  of  Homer, 
"  And  while  he  speaks  his  head  teas  mingled  with  the  dust."  Ilias.  X. 
427.  Some  quoted  Homer  to  show  that  Horses  had  spoken  —  as  some 
divines  quote  Moses  to  prove  the  same  of  the  Ass. 


CHAPTER    II. 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  CLAIMS  OP  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 
TO  BE  A  DIVINE,  MIRACULOUS,  OR  INFALLIBLE  COM- 
POSITION. 

It  is  not  possible  to  prove  directly  the  divine  and 
miraculous  character  of  the  Old  Testament  by  showing 
that  God  miraculously  revealed  it  to  the  writers  thereof, 
for  we  do  not  know  who  were  the  writers  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  books ;  and  when  the  authors  are  known,  it 
is  only  by  their  own  testimony,  which  we  have  no  right 
to  assume  to  be  infallible.  We  have  not  the  faintest 
direct  evidence  to  show  there  was  any  thing  miraculous 
in  their  composition.  The  indirect  evidence  may  be 
reduced  to  two  branches  :  —  first  that  which  shows  that 
all  the  statements  of  the  Old  Testament  are  true,  and 
second  that  which  shows  it  contains  statements  of 
things  above  human  apprehension.  From  the  nature 
of  the  case,  the  former  proposition  cannot  be  proved, 
since  many  things  treated  of  in  the  Bible  are  known  to 
us  by  that  book  alone.  To  say  they  are  true,  is  to 
assume  the  fact  at  issue.  Besides,  a  true  statement  is 
not  necessarily  miraculous  ;  if  it  were,  the  multiplica- 
tion table  of  Pythagoras  would  be   a  divine  and  mi- 

(310) 


BIBLE    NOT   INFALLIBLE.  311 

raculous  composition.  The  latter  proposition  has  also 
its  difficulty.  How  do  we  know  its  statements  are 
above  human  apprehension  ?  But  suppose  they  are, 
how  do  we  know  they  are  true  ?  These  difficulties?  are 
insuperable.  To  assume  the  divinity  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  quite  as  absurd  as  to  assume  the  same  for  the 
next  book  that  shall  be  printed ;  to  declare  it  miracu- 
lous on  account  of  the  beautiful  piety  in  some  parts  of 
it,  is  as  foolish  as  to  make  the  same  claim  for  the  Ge- 
ometry of  Euclid  and  the  Poems  of  Homer,  on  account 
of  their  great  excellence ;  to  admit  this  claim  because 
made  by  some  of  the  Jews,  is  no  more  wise  than  to 
admit  the  claims  of  the  Zoroastrian  records  and  the 
Sibylline  oracles,  and  the  religious  books  of  all  nations  ; 
then,  among  so  many,  one  is  of  no  value,  for  the 
very  excellence  of  a  miraculous  work  is  thought  to 
consist  in  the  fact  of  its  being  the  only  miraculous 
work. 

To  leave  these  assumptions  and  come  to  facts,  this  gen- 
eral thesis  may  be  laid  down,  and  maintained  :  Every 
book  of  the  Old  Testament  bears  distinct  marks  of  its 
human  origin  ;  some  of  human  folly  and  sin ;  all  of 
human  weakness  and  imperfection.  If  this  thesis  be 
true,  the  Bible  is  not  the  direct  work  of  God  ;  not  the 
master  of  the  Mind  and  Conscience,  Heart  and  Soul 
of  man.  To  prove  this  proposition,  it  is  necessary  to 
go  into  some  details.  The  Hebrews  divided  their 
scriptures  into  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Writ- 
ings, to  each  of  which  they  assigned  a  peculiar  degree 
of  inspiration.  The  Law  was  infallibly  inspired,  God 
speaking  with  Moses  face  to  face  ;  the  Prophets  less 
perfectly,  God  addressing  them  by  visions  and  dreams ; 
the   Writings   still    more    feebly,   God    communicating 


312  OF   THE    LAW. 

to  their  authors  by  figures  and  enigmas.^  This  an- 
cient division  may  well  enough  be  followed  in  this 
discussion. 

I.    Of  the  Law. 

This  comprises  the  first  five  books  of  the  Bible. 
They  are  commonly  ascribed  to  Moses ;  but  there  is  no. 
proof  that  he  wrote  a  word  of  them.  Only  the  Deca- 
logue, in  a  compendious  form,  and  perhaps  a  few  frag- 
ments, can  be  referred  to  him  with  much  probability. 
From  the  use  of  peculiar  words,  from  local  allusions, 
and  other  incidental  signs,  it  is  plain  here  are  frag- 
ments from  several  different  writers,  who  lived  no  one 
knows  when  or  where,  their  names  perfectly  unknown 
to  us.  They  all  bear  marks  of  an  age  much  later  than 
that  of  Moses,  as  any  one  familiar  with  ancient  his- 
tory, and  free  from  prejudice,  may  see  on  examina- 
tion.^ 

But  if  they  were  written  by  Moses,  we  are  not,  on 
the  bare  word  of  a  writer,  to  admit  the  miraculous  in- 
fallibility of  his  statements.  Besides,  the  character  of 
the  books  is  such  that  a  very  high  place  is  not  to  be 
assigned  them  among  human  compositions,  measured 
by  the  standard  of  the  present  day.  The  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  if  taken  as  a  history,  in  the  unavoidable 
sense  of  its  terms,  is  at  variance  with  facts.  It  relates 
that  God  created  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  and  earth,  and 
gave  the  latter  its  plants,  animals,  and  men,  in  six  days  ; 

See  Philo,  De  Monarch.  I.  p.  820.     De  Vita  Mosis,  III.  p.  681,  II. 
p.  656,  et  seq.     Joseplius,  Cont.  Apion,  I.  8. 

2  The  proofs  of  this  assertion  cannot  be  adduced  in  a  brief  discourse 
like  the  present ;  see  thereon  de  Wette,  Introduction  to  the  O.  T.  tr 
by  Theo.  Parker,  Vol.  11.  §  138,  et  seq. 


THE   LAW    AT    VARIANCE    WITH    SCIENCE.  313 

while  science  proves  that  many  thousands,  if  not  mill- 
ions of  years  must  have  passed  between  the  creation 
•of  the  first  plants,  and  man,  the  crown  of  creation,  that 
the  surface  of  the  earth  gradually  received  its  present 
form,  one  race  of  plants  after  the  other  sprang  up,  ani- 
mals succeeded  animals,  the  simpler  first,  then  the  more 
complex,  and  at  last  came  man.  This  chapter  tells  of 
an  ocean  of  water  above  our  heads,  separated  from  us 
by  a  solid  expanse,  in  which  the  greater  and  lesser  lights 
are  fixed ;  that  there  was  evening  and  morning,  before 
there  was  a  sun  to  cause  the  difference  between  day 
and  night ;  that  the  sun  and  stars  were  created  after  the 
earth,  for  the  earth's  convenience  ;  and  that  God  ceased 
his  action,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day  and  refreshed 
himself.  Here  the  Bible  is  at  variance  with  science, 
which  is  Nature  stated  in  exact  language.  Few  men 
will  say  directly  what  the  schoolmen  said  to  Galileo, 
"  If  Nature  is  opposed  to  the  Bible  then  Nature  is  mis- 
taken, for  the  Bible  is  certainly  right ; "  but  the  popu- 
lar view  of  the  Bible  logically  makes  that  assertion. 
Truth  and  the  book  of  Genesis  cannot  be  reconciled, 
except  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  Bible  means  any 
thing  it  can  be  made  to  mean,^  but  then  it  means 
nothing, 

*  See  Augustine,  Confessiones,  Lib.  XII.  C.  18,  et  al.  See  in  Whe- 
v/ell's  Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences ;  Lond.,  1840,  Vol.  11. 
p.  137,  et  seq.  the  remarkable  chapter  on  "  the  Relation  of  Tradition 
to  PalaBontology."  He  thinks  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures 
ought  to  change  to  suit  the  advance  of  physical  science  ;  and  quotes, 
approvingly,  the  celebrated  expression  of  Bellarmine  :  "  When  a  dem- 
onstration shall  be  found  to  establish  the  Earth's  motion,  it  will  be 
proper  to  interpret  the  Sacred  Scriptures  otherwise  than  they  have 
hitherto  been  interpreted  in  those  pcissages  where  mention  is  made  of 
the  stability  of  the  Earth  and  movement  of  the  Heavens."  Thus  he 
makes  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible  purely  arbitrary :  you  can  inter- 

21 


314  THE   LAW   AT   VARIANCE   WITH    SCIENCE. 

A  similar  decision  must  be  pronounced  upon  many 
accounts  in  the  Law,  —  on  the  creation  of  woman  ;  the 
story  of  the  garden,  the  temptation  and  fall  of  man  ; 
the  appearances  of  God  in  human  shape,  eating  and 
drinking  with  his  favorite,  and  making  covenants  ;  the 
story  of  the  flood  and  the  ark ;  the  miraculous  birth  of 
Isaac ;  the  promise  to  the  patriarchs  ;  the  great  age  of 
mankind  ;  the  tower  of  Babel  and  confusion  of  tongues ; 
the  sacrifice  of  Isaac  ;  the  history  of  Joseph  ;  of  Moses ; 
the  ten  plagues  miraculously  sent ;  the  wonderful  pas- 
sage of  the  Red  Sea  ;  the  support  of  the  Hebrews  in 
the  wilderness  on  manna ;  the  miraculous  supply  of 
food,  water,  and  clothing,  and  the  delivery  of  the  Law 
at  Mount  Sinai.^  On  these  it  is  needless  to  dwell. 
But  there  is  one  account  in  the  law  too  significant  to 
be  passed  over.  It  is  briefly  this.^  As  the  Jews  ap- 
proached the  land  of  Canaan,  Moses  sent  twelve  men, 
"  heads  of  the  children  of  Israel,"  to  examine  the  land, 
and  report  to  the  people.  They  spent  a  long  time  in 
their  tour,  reported  that  the  land  was  fertile,  exhibited 
specimens  of  its  productions,  but  added,  it  was  full  of 
warlike  nations.  The  Jews  were  afraid  to  invade  it ; 
"  They  wept  all  night  and  said,  would  God  we  had 
died  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  They  rebelled,  and  wished 
to  choose  a  leader  and  return.  Moses  and  Aaron,  and 
Caleb  and  Joshua  —  two  of  the  twelve  messengers  — 

pret  into  it,  or  out  of  it,  what  you  will.  If  you  may  so  deal  with  the 
Bible  why  not  with  Homer,  Plato,  Milton,  and  Hobbes  ?  In  fact,  the 
sound  interpretation  of  the  Bible  is  no  more  arbitrary  than  that  of 
Lyttleton's  Tenures,  and  that  of  Nature  itself. 

^  See  Geddes,  Critical  Remarks  on  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  ;  Lond.. 
1800  ;  Holy  Bible,  etc.,  etc.  See  some  valuable  remarks  in  Palfrey, 
ubi  sup.  Vol.  H.  p.  133.   Norton,  Vol.  H.  Note  D. 

2  Numbers,  XIV. 


A   REVENGEFUL   CHARACTER  ASCRIBED    TO    GOD.      315 

urge  them  to  battle,  and  say,  "  Jehovah  is  with  us." 
The  people  refuse,  and  would  stone  them.  Then  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  appeared  before  the  face  of  the  people, 
and  God  says  to  Moses,  "  How  long  will  this  people 
provoke  me  ?  .  .  .  I  will  smite  them  with  the  pestilence 
and  disinherit  them,  and  make  of  thee  a  greater  nation 
and  mightier  than  they."  But  Moses,  more  merciful 
than  his  God,  attempts  to  appease  the  Deity,  and  that 
by  an  appeal  to  his  vanity  ;  "  And  Moses  said  unto 
Jehovah,  then  the  Egyptians  shall  hear  of  it,  and  they 
will  tell  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  land.  .  .  .  Now  if 
thou  shalt  kill  all  this  people  as  one  man,  then  the  na- 
tions will  speak,  saying.  Because  Jehovah  was  not  able 
to  bring  this  people  into  the  land  he  sware  unto  them, 
therefore  he  hath  slain  them."  Then  he  proceeds  to 
soothe  his  Deity ;  "  Pardon  the  iniquity  of  this  people  ; " 
"Jehovah  is  longsuffering  and  of  great  mercy,  forgiv- 
ing iniquity  and  transgression,  but  by  no  means  clear- 
ing the  guilty."  Jehovah  consents,  but  adds,  "  As  truly 
as  I  live  all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory 
of  Jehovah,"  but  "  because  all  these  men  .  .  .  have 
tempted  me  now  these  ten  times,  .  .  .  surely  they  shall 
not  see  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  their  fathers,  .  .  . 
your  carcasses  shall  fall  in  this  wilderness,  ...  in  this 
wilderness  they  shall  be  consumed,  and  there  they 
shall  die." 

If  an  unprejudiced  Christian  were  to  read  this  for  the 
first  time  in  a  heathen  writer,  and  it  was  related  of  Kro- 
nos  or  Moloch,  he  would  say,  What  foul  ideas  those 
heathens  had  of  God  ;  thank  Heaven  we  are  Christians, 
and  cannot  believe  in  a  deity  so  terrible.  It  is  true  there 
are  now  pious  men,  who  believe  the  story  to  the  letter, 
profess  to  find  comfort  therein,  and  count  it  part  of 
their  Christianity  to  believe  it.     But  is  God  angry  with 


316  THE   EARLY   PROPHETS. 

men ;  passionate,  revengeful ;  offended  because  they 
will  not  war,  and  butcher  the  innocent  ?  Would  he  vio- 
late his  perfect  law  and  by  a  miracle  destroy  a  whole 
nation,  millions  of  men,  women,  and  children,  because 
they  fall  into  a  natural  fit  of  despair,  and  refuse  to  trust 
ten  witnesses  rather  than  two  witnesses?  Does  God 
require  man's  words  to  restrain  his  rage,  violence,  and 
a  degree  of  fury  which  Nero  and  Caracalla,  butchers  of 
Men  though  they  were,  would  have  shuddered  to  think 
of?  Is  He  to  be  teased  and  coaxed  from  murder?  Are 
we  called  on  to  believe  this  in  the  name  of^hristianity  ? 
Then  perish  Christianity  from  the  face  of  earth,  and  let 
Man  learn  of  his  Religion  and  his  God  from  the  stars 
and  the  violet,  the  lion  and  the  lamb.  View  this  as  the 
savage  story  of  some  oriental  who  attributed  a  blood- 
thirsty character  to  his  God,  and  made  a  Deity  in  his 
own  image,  and  it  is  a  striking  remnant  of  barbarism 
that  has  passed  away,  not  destitute  of  dramatic  inter- 
est ;  not  without  its  melancholy  moral.  There  are  some 
things  which  may  be  true,  but  must  be  rejected  for  lack 
of  evidence  to  prove  them  true  ;  but  this  story  no  amount 
of  evidence  could  make  credible. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  Law,  fact  and  fiction, 
history  and  mythology,  are  so  intimately  blended,  that 
it  seems  impossible  to  tell  where  one  begins  and  the 
other  ends.  The  laws  are  not  perfect ;  they  contain  a 
mingling  of  good  and  bad,  wise  and  absurd,  and  if  men 
will  maintain  that  God  is  their  author,  we  must  still 
apply  to  them  the  words  which  Ezekiel  puts  in  his 
mouth  :  ^  "  I  gave  them  statutes  that  were  not  good, 
arid  judgments  whereby  they  should  not  live  ;  "  or  say 
with  Jeremiah,  "  I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers  in  the 

^  Ezekiel,  Ch.  XX.  25,Jer.  VH.  22. 


THE   EARLY    PROPHETS.  317 

day  that  I  brought  them  up  out  of  Egypt,  concerning 
"burnt-offerings,  or  sacrifices." 


II.   Of  the  Prophets, 

The  Hebrews  divide  the  prophets  into  the  earlier 
and  the  later :  the  first  including  the  four  historical 
works  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  and  the  Kings,  the 
second,  the  prophets  properly  so  called,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Daniel,  the  three  major,  the  twelve  minor 
prophets. 

1.   Of  the  Early  Prophets. 

No  one  knows  the  date  or  the  author  of  any  one  of 
these  books ;  they  all  contain  historical  matter  of  doubt- 
ful character,  such  as  the  mu'aculous  passage  of  the 
Jordan ;  the  destruction  of  Jericho ;  the  standing  still 
of  the  sun  and  moon  at  the  command  of  Joshua ;  the 
story  of  Samson;  the  destruction  of  the  Benjamites; 
the  birth  and  calling  of  Samuel ;  the  wonders  wrought 
by  the  Ark ;  the  story  of  Saul,  David,  and  Goliah,  the 
miraculous  pestilence,  of  Solomon,  Elijah,  EHsha,  and 
others.  Of  all  these,  perhaps  the  story  of  Samson  is 
the  most  strikingly  absurd,  —  a  man  of  miraculous 
birth  and  miraculous  strength,  whose  ability  lay  in  his 
long  hair  and  which  went  from  him  when  his  locks 
were  shorn  off".  When  we  read  in  Hesiod  and  else- 
where, the  birth  and  exploits  of  Hercules,  —  who  bears 
a  resemblance  to  Samson  in  some  respects,  though 
vastly  his  superior  on  the  whole  —  we  refer  the  tale  to 
human  fancy  in  a  low  stage  of  civilization;  a  mind 
free  from  prejudice  will  do  the  same  with  the  story  of 

27* 


318  THE   EARLY   PROPHETS. 

Samson.^  No  one  can  reasonably  contend  that  it  re- 
quires a  mind  miraculously  enlightened  to  produce  such 
books  as  these  of  the  early  prophets.  They  belong  to 
the  fabulous  period  of  Jewish  history.  Mythology, 
poetry,  fact,  and  fiction,  are  strangely  woven  together. 
The  authors,  whoever  they  were,  claim  no  inspiration. 
However,  as  a  general  rule,  they  contain  less  to  offend  a 
religious  mind  than  the  books  of  the  Law. 

2.   The  Prophets,  properly  so  called. 

It  may  be  said  of  these  writings,  in  general,  that 
they  contain  nothing  above  the  reach  of  human  facul- 
ties. Here  are  noble  and  spirit-stirring  appeals  to  men's 
conscience,  patriotism,  honor  and  religion ;  beautiful 
poetic  descriptions,  odes,  hymns,  expressions  of  faith, 
almost  beyond  praise.  But  the  mark  of  human  in- 
firmity is  on  them  all,  and  proofs  or  signs  of  miraculous 
inspiration  are  not  found  in  them.  In  the  minor  proph- 
ets, there  is  noticing  worthy  of  special  notice  in  this 
place,  unless  it  be  the  story  of  Jonah,  which  is  unique 
in  the  ancient  Hebrew  literature,  and  tells  its  own  tale.^ 
These  Books  do  not  require  a  detailed  examination.^ 
The  greater  prophets,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel,  are 

^  See  Palfrey,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  p.  194,  et  seq.,  and  on  these  books 
in  general,  p.  134-300.     Home,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  11.  p.  216,  et  seq. 

'  Pausanias  says  he  saw  a  Dolphin  carry  a  boy  on  his  back  as  a  re- 
compense for  being  healed  of  a  wound  by  the  boy  !  Lib.  III.  C.  25, 
p.  573.  A  man  who  should  believe  such  a  story  on  such  evidence 
would  be  thought  not  a  little  credulous  by  the  men  who  declare  it 
dangerous  to  doubt  the  stories  in  Jonah  and  Daniel.  See  too  Pau- 
sanias, Lib.  L  C.  44,  §  8,  and  X.  C.  13,  §  10. 

^  For  this,  see  De  Wette,  Introd.  Vol.  11.;  and  Palfrey,  ubi  sup. 
Vol.  n.  p.  362,  et  seq. 


INSPIRATION    OF   THE   PROPHETS.  319 

more  important,  and  require  a  more  minute  notice.  In 
these,  as  well  as  in  other  prophetical  books,  and  the 
Law,  claim  is  apparently  made  to  miraculous  inspiration. 
*'  Thus  saith  Jehovah,"  is  the  authority  to  which  the 
prophet  appeals,  "Jehovah  said  unto  me,"  "The  com- 
m.and  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,"  "  I  saw  in  a  vision," 
"  The  spirit  of  Jehovah  came  upon  me."  These  and  simi- 
lar expressions  occur  often  in  the  prophets.  But  do  these 
phrases  denote  a  claim  to  miraculous  inspiration  as  we 
understand  it  ?  We  limit  miraculous  inspiration  to  a 
few  cases,  where  something  is  to  be  done  above  human 
ability.  Not  so  the  Hebrews  ;  they  did  not  make  a 
sharp  distinction  between  the  miraculous  and  the 
common.  All  religious  and  moral  power  was  regarded 
as  the  direct  gift  of  God  ;  an  outpouring  of  his  spirit. 
God  teaches  David  to  fight ;  commands  Gideon  to 
select  his  soldiers,  to  arise  in  the  night  and  attack  the 
foe.  The  Lord  set  his  enemies  to  fight  amongst  them- 
selves. He  teaches  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab.  They,  and 
all  the  ingenious  mechanics,  are  filled  with  "  the  spirit 
of  God."  The  same  "  spirit  of  the  Lord "  enables 
Samson  to  kill  a  lion,  and  many  men.  These  instances 
show  with  what  latitude  the  phrase  is  used,  and  how 
loose  were  the  notions  of  inspiration.^  The  Greeks  also 
referred  their  works  to  the  aid  of  Phoebus,  Pallas,  Vul- 
can, or  Olympian  Jove,  in  the  same  way. 

It  has  never  been  rendered  probable  that  the  phrase, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  and  its  kindred  terms,  were  under- 
stood by  the  prophets  or  their  hearers  to  denote  any 
miraculous  agency  in  the  case.  They  employ  language 
with  the  greatest  freedom.     Thus  a  writer  says,  "  I  saw 

^See  Glassius,    Philologia    sacra  ed.    Dathe,  Vol.    11.    p.    815,  et 
seq.     Bauer,  Theologie  des  A.  T.    §  51-54,  et  al. 


320  LANGUAGE   OF   THE  PROPHETS. 

Jehovah  sitting  upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  and 
his  train  filled  the  temple  ;  above  it  stood  the  seraphim." 
No  thinking  man  would  suppose  the  prophet  designed 
to  assert  a  fact,  or  that  his  countrymen  understood 
him  to  do  so.  Certainly  it  is  insulting  to  suppose  a 
philosophic  man  would  believe  God  sat  on  a  throne, 
with  a  troop  of  courtiers  around  him,  like  a  Persian 
king.  When  a  prophet  says  Jehovah  appeared  to  him 
in  a  dream,  he  can  only  mean,  either  he  dreamed  Jeho- 
vah appeared,  which  is  somewhat  different,  or  that  he 
chose  this  symbolical  way  of  stating  his  opinion.  Thus 
a  Grecian  prophet  might  say,  "  The  muse  came  down 
from  high  Olympus'  shaggy  top,  and  whispered  unto 
me,  her  favorite  son."  ^  Not  stating  a  fact,  he  would 
give  an  outness  to  what  passed  in  his  mind.  However, 
if  these  writers  claimed  miraculous  inspiration  ever  so 
strongly,  we  are  not  to  gi'ant  it  unless  they  abide  the 
test  mentioned  above. 

If  they  utter  predictions  —  which  they  rarely  at- 
tempt—  we  are  not  to  assume  their  fulfilment,  and 
then  conclude  the  prophet  was  miraculously  inspired, 
common  as  the  method  is.  But  what  is  the  value  of 
the  claim  made  for  them  ?  Has  any  one  of  them  ever 
uttered  a  distinct,  definite,  and  unambiguous  prediction 
of  any  future  event  that  has  since  taken  place,  which  a 
man  without  a  miracle  could  not  equally  well  predict  ? 
It  has  never  been  shown.  Most  of  the  prophetic  writ- 
ings relate  to  the  past  and  the  present;  to  the  political, 
civil,  and  moral  condition  of  the  people,  at  the  time  ; 
they  exhort  backsliding  Israel  to  forsake  his  idols,  return 
to  Jehovah,  live  wisely  and  well.     They  state  the  result 

^  See    Cicero,    De    Nat.    Deorum,    Lib.   I.  oh.   I.  and  II.     Ovid, 
Metamorpb.  Lib.  11.  640,  et  seq. 


PKEDICTIONS    OF   THE   EXILE.  321 

of  obedience  or  of  disobeying,  for  individuals  and  the 
nation.  It  is  rare  they  predict  distinctly  and  dej&nitely 
any  specific  event ;  sometimes  they  foretell,  in  the  most 
general  terms,  good  or  ill  fortune,  the  destruction  of  a 
city,  the  defeat  of  an  army,  the  downfall  of  a  king. 
But  in  case  the  prediction  came  to  pass,  who  shall  tell 
us,  at  this  distance  of  time,  that  it  was  not  either  a 
lucky  hit,  or  the  result  of  sagacious  insight  ?  Certainly 
the  supposition  is  against  a  miracle.  The  Tripod  of 
Delphi  delivered  some  oracles  that  were  extraordinarily 
felicitous ;  Seneca  made  a  very  clear  prediction  of  the 
discovery  of  America,  and  Lactantius  of  the  rise  and 
downfall  of  Napoleon,  and  Lotichius  of  the  capture  of 
Magdeburg.  Does  the  fulfilment  prove  the  miraculous 
inspiration  of  the  oracle  in  these  cases?  ^ 

But  to  recur  to  the  other  test,  there  are  statements 
in  the  prophets  which  are  not  true ;  predictions  that  did 
not  come  to  pass.  Under  this  rubric  may  be  placed 
three  of  the  most  celebrated  oracles  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. 

1.  JeremiaWs  Prediction  of  the  Seventy  Years  of  Exile. 

It  was  an  easy  thing  in  Jeremiah's  position  to  see 
that  the  little  nation  of  Judea  could  not  hold  out 
against  the  Babylonian  forces,  and  therefore  must  ex- 
perience the  common  fate  of  nations  they  conquered, 
and  be  carried  into  exile.^  But  would  the  Lord  forsake 
his  people  ;  the  seed  of  Abraham  ?  A  pious  Jew  could 
not  believe  it.     It  was  unavoidable,  with  the  common 


^  See  De  Wette,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  11.  §  201,  et  seq. 
^  On  this  custom  of  the  Chaldees,  see  Heeren,  Ideen,  Vol.  I.  Ge- 
senius  On  Isa.  XXXVI.  16. 


322  ORACLE  AGAINST  TTRE. 

opinion  of  his  countrymen,  that  he  should  expect  their 
subsequent  restoration.  But  why  predict  an  exile  of 
just  seventy  years,  unless  miraculously  directed?  ^  He 
may  have  used  that  term  for  an  indefinite  period ;  a 
common  practice.  In  that  case  there  is  no  miracle. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  predicted  an  exile  of  just 
seventy  years,  the  oracle  was  a  failure.  The  people 
were  not  carried  into  captivity  all  at  once.  From  which 
of  the  two  or  three  times  of  deportation  shall  we  set 
out?  The  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  differ  some- 
what.2  But  to  take  the  chronology  of  Jeremiah  him- 
self, if  the  passage  be  genuine ;  ^  the  deportation  began 
in  the  seventh  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  599  before 
Christ ;  it  was  continued  in  the  year  588,  and  concluded 
in  583.  The  exile  ended  in  the  year  536.  The  longest 
period  that  can  be  made  out  extends  to  but  sixty-three, 
and  the  shortest  to  but  forty-seven  years.  To  make 
out  the  seventy  years  we  must  date  arbitrarily  from  the 
year  606. 


2.  EzekieVs   Oracle  against  Tyre, 

This  prophet  -predicts  that  Nebuchadnezzar  shall 
destroy  Tyre.^  The  prediction  is  clear  and  distinct; 
the  destruction  is  to  be  complete  and  total.  "  With 
the  hoofs  of  his  horses  shall  he  tread  down  all  thy 
streets ;  he  shall  slay  thy  people  by  the  sword,  and 
thy  strong  garrison  shall  go  down  to  the  ground.  .  .  . 


1  Jer.  XXV. 

2  See  2  Kings,  XXIV.  XXV.  2  Chron.  XXXVI. 

^  Jer.  Ln.  28-30  ;  but  see  verses  4-15.     See  the  forced  combina- 
tions in  Jahn's  Hebrew  Commonwealth,  ch.  V.  §  43. 
*  XXVI.  1,  et  seq. 


MESSIANIC    PROPHECIES.  323 

I  will  make  thee  like  the  top  of  a  rock ;  thou  shalt  be 
to  spread  nets  upon ;  thou  shalt  be  built  up  no  more." 
But  it  was  not  so.  Nebuchadnezzar  was  obliged  to 
raise  the  siege  after  investing  the  city  for  thirteen  years, 
and  go  and  fight  the  Egyptians.  Then  sixteen  years 
after  the  first  oracle,  Ezekiel  takes  back  his  own  words: 
"  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying.  Son  of 
man,  Nebuchadnezzar  .  .  .  caused  his  army  to  serve  a 
great  service  against  Tyrus ;  every  head  was  made 
bald,"  with  the  chafing  of  the  helmet,  "  every  shoulder 
was  peeled,"  with  the  pressure  of  burdens ;  "  yet  he 
had  no  wages,  nor  his  army  from  Tyrus.  .  .  .  There- 
fore, behold,  I  will  give  the  land  of  Egypt  unto  Nebu- 
chadnezzar." ^ 

These  things  speak  for  themselves,  and  show  the  na^ 
ture  of  the  prophetic  discourses  ;  that  they  were  moral 
addresses,  or  poetical  odes.  Ezekiel's  celebrated  pre- 
diction of  an  impossible  city,^  is  a  standing  monument 
of  the  prophetic  character,  and  of  the  lasting  folly  of 
interpreters.  It  were  easy  to  collect  other  instances  of 
palpable  mistake.^ 

3.   The  alleged  Predictions  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 

The  Messianic  prophecies  are  the  most  famous  of 
all.     It  is  commonly  pretended  that  there  are  in  the  Old 


^  XXIX.  1 7,  et  seq.  See  Isaiah,  XXIII.  and  Gesenius's  remarks, 
in  Ills  Commentar.  Vol.  I.  p.  711,  et  seq.  Rosenmiiller,  Alterth.  Vol. 
n.  Pt.  I.  p.  34. 

2  Ch.  XL.-XLVm. 

^  On  the  Prophecies  in  general,  see  the  Essay  of  Prof.  Stuart,  in 
Bib.  Rep.  Vol.  II.  p.  217,  et  seq. ;  of  Hengstenberg,  ibid.  p.  139,  et 
seq.     Noyes  in  Christian  Examiner,  Vol.  XVI.  p.  321,  et  seq.     See 


324  MESSIANIC   PROPHECIES. 

Testament  clear  and  distinct  predictions  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  But  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  it  has  never 
been  shown  that  there  is,  in  the  whole  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, one  single  sentence  that  in  the  plain  and  natu- 
ral sense  of  the  words  foretells  the  birth,  life,  or  death  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  If  the  Scripture  have  seventy-two 
senses,  as  one  of  the  Rabbins  declares,  or  if  it  foretells 
whatever  comes  to  pass,  as  Augustine  has  said,  and 
means  all  it  can  be  made  to  mean,  as  many  moderns 
seem  to  think,  why  predictions  and  types  of  Jesus  may 
be  found  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  in  Noah  and 
Abraham  and  Samson,  as  well  as  in  Virgil's  fourth 
Eclogue,  the  Odes  of  Horace,  and  the  story  of  the  Tri- 
be merine  Hercules. 

The  Messianic  expectations  and  prophecies  seem  to 
have  originated  in  this  way  :  After  the  happy  and  suc- 
cessful period  of  David  and  Solomon,  the  kingdom  was 
divided  into  Judah  and  Israel,  the  two  tribes  and  the 
ten,  the  national  prosperity  declined.  Pious  men  hoped 
for  better  times  ;  they  naturally  connected  these  hopes 
with  a  personal  deliverer  ;  a  descendant  of  David,  their 
most  popular  king.  The  deliverer  would  unite  the  two 
kingdoms  under  the  old  form.  A  poetic  fancy  endowed 
him  with  wonderful  powers ;  made  him  a  model  of 
goodness.  Different  poets  arrayed  their  expected  hero 
in  imaginary  drapery  to  suit  their  own  conceptions. 
Malachi  gives  him  a  forerunner.  The  Jews  were  the 
devoutest  of  nations  ;  the  popular  deliverer  must  be  a 
religious  man.  They  were  full  of  pious  faith  ;  so  the 
darker  the  present,  the  brighter  shone  the  Pharos  of 
Hope  in  the  future.     Sometimes  this  deliverer  was  called 

also  the  able  Essay  of  Knobel,  Prophetismus  der  Hebraer,  Vol.  I. 
Einleit. 


MESSIANIC    PROPHECIES.  325 

the  Messiah  ;  this  term  is  not  common  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, however,  but  is  sometimes  applied  to  Cyrus  by 
the  Pseudo-Isaiah.^ 

These  hopes  and  predictions  of  a  deliverer  involved 
several  important  things  :  A  reunion  of  the  divided  tribes ; 
a  return  of  the  exiles ;  the  triumph  and  extension  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  its  eternal  duration  and  perfect  hap- 
piness ;  idolatry  was  to  be  rooted  out ;  the  nations  im- 
proved in  morals  and  religion  ;  Truth  and  Righteous- 
ness were  to  reign  ;  Jehovah  to  be  reconciled  with  his 
people ;  all  of  them  were  to  be  taught  of  God ;  other 
nations  were  to  come  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  be  blessed. 
But  the  Mosaic  Law  was  to  be  eternal ;  the  old  ritual 
to  last  forever ;  Jerusalem  to  be  the  capital  of  the  Mes- 
sianic kingdom,  and  the  Jewish  nation  to  be  reestab- 
lished in  greater  pomp  than  in  the  times  of  David.  Are 
these  predictions  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  He  was  not 
the  Messiah  of  Jewish  expectation  and  of  the  prophets' 
foretelling.  The  furthest  from  it  possible.  The  pre- 
dictions demanded  a  political  and  visible  kingdom  in 
Palestine,  with  Jerusalem  for  its  capital,  and  its  ritual 
the  old  Law.  The  kingdom  of  Jesus  is  not  of  this 
world.  The  ten  tribes  —  have  they  come  back  to  the 
home  of  their  fathers  ?  They  have  perished  and  are 
swallowed  up  in  the  tide  of  the  nations,  no  one  know- 
ing the  place  of  their  burial.  The  kingdom  of  the  two 
tribes  soon  went  to  the  ground.  These  are  notorious 
facts.  The  Jews  are  right  when  they  say,  their  pre- 
dicted Messiah  has  not  come.  Does  the  Old  Testa- 
ment foretell  a  suffering  Saviour,  his  kingdom  not  of 

^  Many  chapters  of  Isaiah  have  been  shown  to  be  spurious.  The 
passages,  Chapter  XLI.-LXVI. ;  XHI.  XIV. ;  XXIH.-XXVn. ; 
XXXIV.  XXXV.,  are  of  this  character. 

28 


326  THE  WRITINGS. 

this  world  ;  crucified  ;  raised  from  the  dead  ?  The  idea 
is  foreign  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Well  might  a  Jew 
ask,  "  Wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom  to 
Israel  ?  "  To  trust  the  uncertain  record  of  the  New 
Testament,  Jesus  was  slow  to  accept  the  name  of  the 
Messiah  ;  he  knew  the  "  people  would  take  him  by 
force  and  make  him  a  king."  But  what  means  the 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem  ?  He  forbids  his  disci- 
ples to  speak  of  his  Messiahship  :  "  See  that  thou  tell  no 
man  of  it ;  "  lets  John  draw  his  own  inference,  whether 
or  not  he  must  "look  for  another;"  thinks  Smion 
Peter  could  only  find  it  out  by  inspiration.  Was  it 
that  he  knew  he  was  not  the  Messiah  of  the  prophets, 
and  so  never  formally  assumed  the  title ;  but,  knowing 
that  he  was  a  true  deliverer,  far  greater  than  their  impos- 
sible Messiah,  first  suffered  the  name  to  be  affixed  to  him, 
and  then  made  the  most  of  the  popular  Idea  ?  Or,  w^as 
he  himself  mistaken  ?  It  concerns  us  little  ;  but  this 
remains,  that  he  was  much  more  than  the  Jews  looked 
for.  The  Jewish  Christians  mistook  the  matter  ;  Paul 
would  prove  that  he  was  the  Messiah  of  the  proph- 
ets. Mistakes  in  Theology,  like  bits  of  glass  in  a  kalei- 
doscope, are  repeated  again  and  again,  in  fantastic  com- 
binations.i 

HI.    The   Writings. 

Under  this  head  are  comprised  the  remaining  books 
of  the  Old  Testament.     Here  is  the  dramatic  poem  of 

^  See  De  Wette,  Dogmatik,  §  137-142.  Opuscula,  I.  p.  23-31  ;  the 
numerous  Christologies  of  modern  times,  and  the  introductions  to  the 
Old  Testament.  See  also  Strauss,  Life  of  Jesus,  §  60-68.  Henneil, 
ubi  sup.  Chap.  I.  II.  and  XII.  XTTT. ;  Bretschneider,  Dogmatik,  §  30, 
34,  (p.  356,  et  seq.,)  §  137,  (p.  166,  et  seq.).  Hahn,  Knapp,  Hase, 
Wegscheider,  etc.,  and  Hengstenberg's  Christology. 


THE   WRITINGS.  327 

Job,  a  work  of  surprising  beauty,  and  full  of  truth.  But 
its  author  denies  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  though 
he  attempts  "  to  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man,"  he 
yet  leaves  the  question  as  undecided  as  he  found  it. 

In  the  Psalms  we  have  beautiful  prayers,  mixed  up 
with  their  local  occasions  ;  penitential  hymns,  songs  of 
praise,  expressions  of  hope,  faith,  trust  in  God,  that 
have  never  been  surpassed.  The  devotion  of  some  of 
these  sweet  lyrics  is  beyond  praise.  But  at  the  same 
time  here  are  the  most  awful  denunciations  that  speech 
ever  spoke.  In  the  following  passage  the  writer  de- 
nounces his  enemies.^  "  Set  thou  a  wicked  man  over 
him.  Let  Satan  stand  at  his  right  hand  ;  when  he  shall 
be  judged,  let  him  be  condemned,  and  let  his  prayer  be- 
come sin.  Let  his  days  be  few ;  let  another  take  his 
office.  Let  his  children  be  fatherless,  and  his  wife  a 
widow.  Let  his  children  be  continually  vagabonds  and 
beg.  .  .  .  Let  there  be  none  to  extend  mercy  unto  him, 
neither  let  there  be  any  to  favor  his  fatherless  children." 
These  are  the  words  of  a  man  angry  and  revengeful. 
The  Psalms  abound  with  similar  imprecations.  To 
maintain  they  came  directly  from  the  God  of  love  is 
to  forget  Reason,  Conscience,  and  Religion,  which 
teach  us  to  love  our  enemies,  to  pray  for  them  that 
persecute  us. 

The  book  of  Proverbs  and  the  Song  of  Songs  speak 
for  themselves,  and  neither  need  nor  claim  any  more  in- 
spiration than  other  collections  of  Proverbs  or  Ori- 
ental amatory  Idyls.  The  latter  belongs  to  the  same 
class  with  the  writings  of  Anacreon.  The  somewhat 
doubtful  book  of  Ecclesiastes  seems  to  be  the  work  of 
a  sceptic.     He  denies  the  immortality  of  the  soul  with 

1  Ps.  CIX.  6,  et  seq.     See  also  Ps.  CXXXVII. 


328  THE   BOOK    OF   DANIEL. 

great  clearness  ;  thinks  wisdom  and  folly  are  alike  vanity. 
ThoQgh  he  concludes  most  touchingly  in  praise  of  vir- 
tue on  the  whole,  and  declares  the  fear  of  God,  and 
keeping  his  commandments  is  the  whole  duty  of  man, 
yet  this  conclusion  is  vitiated  by  the  former  precept,  "  Be 
not  righteous  overmuch."  The  Lamentations  of  Jere- 
miah have  as  little  claim  to  inspiration.^ 

The  historical  books  of  this  division  present  some 
peculiarities.  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  are  valuable  histor- 
ical documents,  though  implicit  faith  is  by  no  means 
to  be  placed  in  them.  The  book  of  Esther  is  entirely 
devoid  of  religious  interest,  and  seems  to  be  a  romance 
designed  to  show  that  the  Jews  will  always  be  provided 
for.  The  brief  book  of  Ruth  may  be  an  historical  or  a 
fictitious  work. 

The  book  of  Daniel  is  a  perfect  unique  in  the  Old 
Testament.  It  professes  to  have  been  written  by  a 
captive  Jew,  at  Babylon,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century  before  Christ ;  it  contains  accounts  of  sur- 
prising miracles,  dreams,  visions,  men  cast  into  a  den 
of  lions  and  a  furnace  of  fire,  yet  escaping  unhurt ;  a 
man  transformed  to  a  beast,  and  eating  grass  like  an 
ox  for  some  years,  and  then  restored  to  human  shape ; 
a  miraculous  and  spectral  hand  writing  on  the  palace 
wall ;  grotesque  fancies  that  remind  us  of  the  Arabian 
Nights,  and  the  Talmud.^  To  judge  from  internal 
evidence,  it  was  written  in  the  first  part  of  the  second 
century,  perhaps  about  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
years  before  Christ,  in  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes. 

^  See  LecTerc's  Five  Letters  concerning  the  Inspiration,  etc. ; 
London,  1690,  and  on  the  other  hand,  William  Lowth's  Vindication  of 
the  Di\^ne  Authority,  etc.  ;  Lond.,  1699,  and  Gaussen,  Home,  and 
Stuart.,  ubi  sup. 

2  See  De  Wette,  Vol.  II.  §  257,  p.  505,  note  a,  and  PHny,  VIH.  34. 


THE   CHRONICLES.  329 

The  author  seems  to  have  a  political  and  moral  end  in 
view,  and  to  write  for  the  encom-agement  of  his 
countrymen,  perhaps  designing  his  work  should  pass 
for  what  it  is,  a  politico-religious  romance.^ 

All  of  these  books  hitherto  mentioned  seem  written 
by  earnest  men,  with  no  intention  to  deceive.  Their 
manly  honesty  is  everywhere  apparent.  But  the  book 
of  Chronicles  is  of  a  very  different  character.  Here  is 
an  obvious  attempt  on  the  writer's  part  to  exalt  the 
character  of  orthodox  kings,  and  depress  that  of  heretical 
kings  ;  to  bring  forward  the  Priests  and  the  Levites,  and 
give  every  thing  a  ceremonial  appearance.  This  design 
will  be  obvious  to  any  one  who  reads  the  stories  in 
Chronicles,  and  then  turns  to  the  parallel  passages  in 
Samuel  and  Kings.^  To  take  but  a  single  instance  : 
the  writer  of  the  book  of  Samuel  gives  an  account  of 
David ;  tells  of  his  good  and  evil  qualities  ;  does  not 
pass  over  his  cruelty,  nor  extenuate  his  sin.  But  in 
Chronicles  there  is  not  a  word  of  this  :  nothing  of  the 
crime  of  imperial  adultery ;  nothing  of  Nathan's  rous- 
ing apologue,  and  Thou-art-the-man.  The  thing  speaks 
for  itself. 

Now  if  these  books  have  any  divine  authority,  what 
shall  we  do  with  such  contradictions ;  deny  the  fact  ? 
We  live  too  long  after  Dr.  Faustus  for  so  easy  a  device. 
Shall  we  say,  with  a  modern  divine,  the  true  believer 
will  accept  both  statements  with  the  same  implicit 
faith  ?     This  also  may  be  doubtful. 

To  look  back  upon  the  field  we  have  passed,  it  must 

^  See  De  Wette,  Yol.  II.  §  253,  et  seq. 

^  The  passages  are  couveniently  arranged  for  this  purpose,  side  by- 
side,  in  Jahn's  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  De  Wette,  §  189,  et 
seq. 

28* 


330  MYTHOLOGY   IN   THE  BIBLE. 

be  confessed  that  the  claims  made  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment have  no  foundation  in  fact ;  its  books,  like  others, 
have  a  mingling  of  good  and  evil.  We  see  a  gradual 
progress  of  ideas  therein,  keeping  pace  with  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  world.  Vestiges  of  ignorance,  superstition, 
folly,  of  unreclaimed  selfishness,  yet  linger  there.  Fact 
and  fiction  are  strangely  blended ;  the  common  and  mi- 
raculous, the  divine  and  the  human  run  into  one  another. 
We  find  rude  notions  of  God  in  some  parts,  though  in 
others  the  more  lofty.  Here,  the  moral  and  religious 
sentiment  are  insulted ;  there,  is  beautiful  instruction 
for  both.  Human  imperfections  meet  us  everywhere  in 
the  Old  Testament.  The  passions  of  man  are  ascribed 
to  God.  The  Jews  had  a  mythology  as  well  as  the 
Greeks  :  they  transform  law  into  miracles ;  earth  into  a 
dream-land  ;  it  rains  manna  for  eight  and  thirty  years, 
and  the  smitten  rock  pours  out  water.  We  see  a 
gradual  progress  in  this  as  in  all  mythologies :  first, 
God  appears  in  person ;  walks  in  the  garden  in  the  cool 
of  the  day  ;  eats  and  drinks ;  makes  contracts  with  his 
favorites ;  is  angry,  resentful,  sudden  and  quick  in 
quarrel,  and  changes  his  plans  at  the  advice  of  a  cool 
man.  Then  it  is  the  Angel  of  God  who  appears  to 
man.  It  is  deemed  fatal  for  man  to  see  Jehovah.  His 
messenger  comes  to  Manoah,  and  vanishes  in  the  flame 
of  the  sacrifice  ;  the  angel  of  Jehovah  appears  to  David. 
Next  it  is  only  in  dreams,  visions,  types,  and  symbols 
that  the  Most  High  approaches  his  children.  He 
speaks  to  them  by  night;  comes  in  the  rush  of  thoughts, 
but  is  not  seen.  The  personal  Form,  and  the  visible 
Angel,  have  faded  and  disappeared  as  the  daylight 
assumed  its  power.  The  nation  advanced ;  its  Religion 
and  mythology  advanced  with  it.  Then  again,  some- 
times God  is  represented  as  but  a  local  deity  ;  Jacob  is 


PROGRESS   OF, IDEAS.  331 

surprised  to  find  him  in  a  foreign  land ;  next  he  is  only 
the  God  of  the  Hebrews.  At  last,  the  only  living 
AND  TRUE  God. 

There  is  a  similar  progress  in  the  notions  of  the  ser- 
vice God  demands.  Abraham  must  offer  Isaac ;  with 
Moses,  slain  beasts  are  sufficient ;  Micah  has  outgrown 
the  Mosaic  form  in  some  respects,  and  says,  "  Shall 
Jehovah  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams  ;  shall  I 
give  the  first-born  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul? 
what  doth  Jehovah  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly  and 
to  love  mercy  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  "  A 
spiritual  man  in  the  midst  of  a  formal  people  saw  the 
pure  truth  which  they  saw  not.  Does  the  Old  Testa- 
ment claim  to  be  master  of  the  soul  ?  By  no  means  ; 
it  is  only  a  phantom  conjured  up  by  superstition  that 
scares  us  in  our  sleep.  Does  the  truth  it  contains  make 
it  a  miraculous  book  ?  It  is  poor  logic  which  thinks 
what  is  false  can  cease  to  be  false,  though  never  so 
many  wonders  are  wrought  in  its  defence.^ 

1  On  the  Old  Testament,  its  authors'  inspiration,  etc.,  see  some  val- 
uable remarks  in  Spinoza,  Tract,  theol.  polit.  Ch.  I.-X.  XII.  XIII. 
See  Norton,  Vol.  II.  Append.  D.  and  his  Letter  to  Blanco  White  in 
Thom,  ubi  sup.  Yol.  II.  p.  250,  et  seq.  See  also  Ewald,  Gesch.  des 
Volkes  Israel,  etc. ;  Gott.  1843,  et  seq.  B.  I.  Yorbereitung :  all  the  six 
laborious  volumes  are  rich  in  historical  results. 


CHAPTER    III. 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  CLAIMS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT TO  BE  A  DIVINE,  MIRACULOUS,  OR  INFALLIBLE 
COMPOSITION. 

Let  us  look  the  facts  of  the  New  Testament  also  in 
the  face.  Some  men  are  glad  to  abandon  the  Old  Tes- 
tament to  the  Jews,  but  fear  to  look  into  the  foundation 
of  the  Christian  Scriptures,  lest  it  also  be  found  sandy. 
Does  much  depend  on  the  New  Testament  ?  Then 
the  more  carefully  must  its  claims  be  examined.  Truth 
courts  the  light,  its  deeds  never  evil.  Are  the  writings 
of  the  New  Testament  divine,  miraculous,  and  infallible 
compositions  ;  if  the  Old  Testament  fail  —  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  religious  faith  and  practice  ?  Such  is 
the  prevalent  opinion  with  us.^  After  what  was  said 
above  respecting  the  points  to  be  proved  before  such  a 
conclusion  could  be  admitted,  it  becomes  less  difficult  to 
decide  this  question.  The  general  remarks  respecting 
the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  apply  also  to  the 
New,^  and  need  not  be  repeated.  Bearing  these  in 
mind,  let  us   subject  these  writings  to  the  same  test. 

^  See  Faustus  Socinus,  De  Auctoritate  Sac.  Script.  Ch.  I.  where  he 
defends  the  Scriptures  against  Christians ;  and  Ch.  11.  against  the  not 
Christians. 

2  See  above,  B.  IV.  Ch.  I  and  11. 
(332) 


SPURIOUS   BOOKS.  333 

To  do  this  we  must  examine  the  works  themselves. 
This  general  thesis  may  be  affirmed :  All  the  writings 
in  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  the  Old,  contain 
marks  of  their  human  origin,  of  human  weakness  and 
imperfection. 

Now  in  the  New  Testament  as  in  the  Old,  we  have 
spurious  works  mixed  with  the  genuine.  To  separate 
the  former  from  the  latter,  is  not  an  easy  work,  perhaps 
not  possible,  at  this  day.  However  there  are  some 
books  of  unquestionable  genuineness,  and  others  whose 
spurious  character  is  almost  demonstrated.  Modern 
criticism  and  ancient  authority  seem  to  decide  that  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  not  the  work  of  Paul,  but  of 
some  unknown  author ;  that  the  second  Epistle  of 
Peter  is  not  from  that  apostle,  but  from  one  who,  as 
Scaliger  said,  "  abused  his  leisure  time  ; "  the  second 
and  third  of  John,  the  Epistles  of  James  and  Jude  are 
not  from  the  apostolic  persons  whose  names  they  bear  ; 
and  that  the  book  of  the  Revelation  is  not  the  work  of 
John  the  Evangelist.  Serious  objections  have  been 
brought  against  some  other  epistles,  many  of  which 
appear  to  be  well  founded,  and  against  some  of  the 
Evangelists  alluded  to  already. 

Then  if  the  above  remarks  be  correct,  there  are  seven 
works  in  the  New  Testament  whose  claim  to  apostolical 
authority  was  anciently  doubted  with  good  reason. 
These  disputed  writings  may  be  neglected  in  the 
present   examination.^      If  the   other   writings,   whose 

^  The  non-apostolical  origin  of  these  seven  books  is  by  no  means 
fixed  and  agreed  upon  by  all  the  critics.  There  is  better  evidence  for 
the  Johannic  origin  of  the  Revelation,  than  the  4th  Gospel.  See, 
who  will,  the  discussions  in  the  Introductions  of  Michaelis,  Hug,  De 
Wette,  and  the  numerous  monograms  on  these  points.  See  above,  p. 
233,  note. 


334         THE  LETTERS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

claim  to  an  apostolic  origin  is  supposed  to  be  stronger, 
are  not  found  miraculous  and  infallible,  still  less  shall 
be  expected  of  these.  The  rest  of  the  New  Testament 
may  be  divided  into  the  epistolary  and  the  historical 
writings. 

I.    Of  the  Epistolary  Writings  of  the  New  Testament. 

These  are  the  oldest  Christian  documents ;  the  works 
of  Paul,  Peter,  and  John,  the  most  illustrious  of  the 
early  disciples,  the  "  chiefest  apostles,*'  and  most  instru- 
mental in  founding  the  Christian  church.  If  any  of 
the  early  Christians  received  miraculous  inspiration,  it 
must  be  the  apostles  ;  if  any  of  the  apostles,  it  must  be 
one,  or  all,  of  these  three.  To  determine  their  claims, 
the  works  of  the  three  may  be  examined  together,  for 
the  sake  of  brevity. 

Now  at  the  first  view  of  these  fifteen  epistles,  it  does 
not  appear  that  any  miraculous  inspiration  was  required 
to  write  these  more  than  the  letters  of  St.  Cyprian  or 
Fenelon.  They  contain  nothing  above  the  reach  of 
human  faculties,  and  to  assume  a  miraculous  agency  is 
contrary  to  the  inductive  method,  to  say  the  least  of  it. 

Do  the  writers  ever  claim  a  peculiar  and  miraculous 
inspiration  ?  The  furthest  from  it  possible.  Paul 
speaks  of  his  inspiration,  but  admits  that,  of  all  Chris- 
tians, "  No  man  can  say  Jesus  is  the  Lord,"  that  is, 
Christianity  is  true,  "  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  He 
refers  wisdom,  faith,  eloquence,  learning,  skill  in  the 
interpretation  of  tongues,  ability  to  teach,  or  heal 
diseases,  to  inspiration  :  "  All  these  worketh  that  one 
and  selfsame  spirit."  ^  The  Spirit  of  Christ  was  in  all 
Christian  hearts ;  they  all  received  the  "  Spirit  of  God." 

1  Cor.  Xn.  1,  et  seq. 


INSPIRATION   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  335 

That  was  Paul's  view  of  inspiration.  He  and  his 
fellow-apostles  were  servants  that  helped  others  to 
believe.  He  had  the  gift  of  teaching  in  a  more  eminent 
degree,  and  enjoyed  a  greater  "  abundance  of  revela- 
tions," and  therefore  taught.  John  carries  the  doctrine 
of  the  universal  inspiration  of  Christians  still  further. 

Now,  if  the  apostles  had  this  miraculous  and  pecu- 
liar inspiration,  and  through  modesty  did  not  state  it, 
they  must  yet  have  known  the  fact.  But  it  is  notori- 
ous they  taught  not  in  the  name  of  any  private  inspira- 
tion, but  in  that  of  Jesus.^ 

But  even  if  the  apostles  claimed  miraculous  and  in- 
fallible inspiration,  and  taught  with  authority  they  pre- 
tended to  derive  therefrom,  still  their  claim  could  not 
be  granted,  for,  if  infallibly  inspired,  they  must  be  ready 
for  all  emergencies.  Now  a  practical  question  arose  in 
a  novel  case,  which  was  a  test  of  their  inspiration  : 
Should  they  admit  the  Gentiles  to  Christianity  ?  The 
book  of  Acts  relates,  that  Peter  required  a  special  and 
miraculous  vision  to  enlighten  him  on  this  head.  He 
seems  surprised  to  find  that  "  God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,"  but  will  allow  all  religious  men  of  any  nation 
to  become  Christians.^  Had  he  been  miraculously  in- 
spired before,  to  what  purpose  the  vision  ? 

If  the  apostles  were  infallibly  inspired,  they  could 
not  disagree   on   any   point.      Now  another   question 


^  This  point  has  been  ably  touched  by  Spinoza,  Tract,  theol.  polit. 
chap.  XI.  ed.  Paulus.  Yol.  I.  p.  315,  et  seq.  From  him  both  Leclerc, 
Sentimens  de  quelques  Theologiens,  etc.,  and  Rich.  Simon,  (Hist. 
Crit.  du  Y.  T.)  seem  to  have  drawn  some  of  their  stores  See  also 
the  acute  remarks  of  Lessing,  Werke;  ed.  Carlsruhe,  1824,  Yol. 
XXIY.  p.  84,  et  seq. 

"  Acts  X.  1,  et  seq. 


336  DIFFICULTIES    OF   THE   APOSTLES. 

comes  up  :  Shall  the  Gentiles  keep  the  old  ceremonial 
Law  of  Moses,  and  be  circumcised  ?  ^  It  would  seem 
that  men  of  common  freedom  of  thought,  who  had 
heard  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  would  not  need  miraculous 
help  to  decide  so  plain  a  question.  If  they  had  the 
alleged  inspiration,  each  must  know  at  once  how  to 
decide,  and  all  would  decide  in  the  same  way  without 
consultation.  But  such  was  not  the  fact ;  they  were 
divided  on  this  very  question — plain  as  it  is  —  and  held 
a  meeting  of  the  Christians ;  the  "  apostles  and  elders 
came  together  to  consider  this  matter."  It  was  not  a 
plain  case,  there  was  "  much  disputing  "  about  it. 
Peter,  Barnabas,  and  Paul,  spoke  against  the  Law  ; 
James,  as  chairman  of  the  meeting,  sums  up  the  matter 
before  putting  the  question,  takes  a  middle  ground,  pro- 
poses a  resolution  that  all  the  Mosaic  ritual  should  not 
be  imposed  upon  the  Gentile  converts,  but  only  a  few 
of  its  prohibitions,  which  he  reckons  '•  necessary  things." 
He  comes  to  this  conclusion,  not  by  special  inspira- 
tion—  of  which  no  mention  is  made  in  the  meeting  — 
but  from  Peter's  statement  of  facts,  and  from  a  passage 
in  the  Prophet  who  says,  that  "  all  the  Gentiles  might 
seek  after  the  Lord."  The  question  was  put;  the 
chairman's  motion  prevailed ;  a  circular  was  drawn  up 
in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  assembly,  and 
sent  to  the  Churches.  But  Paul  and  Peter  seem  to 
have  disregarded  it,  one  going  beyond,  the  other  falling 
short  of  its  requisitions. 

Then,  again,  the  apostles  differed  on  some  points. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  had  a  sharp  contention,  and  sep- 
arated.2     Could  infallible  men  fall  out  ?     Paul  had  little 


^  Acts  XV.  1,  et  seq. 
2  Acts  XV.  39. 


DISAGREEMENT   OF   THE   EVANGELISTS.  337 

respect  for  those  "  that  were  apostles  before  him,"  and 
"withstood  Peter  to  the  face."  ^ 

These  Apostles  were  mistaken  in  several  things ;  in 
their  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  any  one 
may  see  by  examining  the  passages  cited  by  Peter  in 
the  Acts,2  Qj-  ^hg  writings  of  Paul.^  They  were  all 
mistaken  in  this  capital  doctrine :  That  Jesus  would 
return  to  Judea,  the  general  resurrection  and  judgment 
take  place,  and  the  world  be  destroyed  within  a  very 
few  years,  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Apostles.  This 
is  a  very  strongly  marked  feature  in  their  teaching.* 
From  the  doubtful  epistle  ascribed  to  Peter,  it  seems 
that  as  times  went  by  and  the  world  continued,  scoffers 
very  naturally  doubted  the  truth  of  this  opinion,^  but 
were  assured  it  would  hold  good. 

II.    Of  the  Historical  Writings  of  the  New    Testament. 

Here  we  have,  apparently,  though  I  think  not  really, 
the  works  of  Matthew  and  John,  two  of  the  immediate 
disciples  of  Jesus,  and  of  Mark  and  Luke,  the  com- 
panions of  Peter  and  Paul.  The  first  question  is,  have 
we  really  the  works  of  these  four  writers  ?  It  is  a 
question  which  can  by  no  means  be  readily  and  satis- 
factorily answered  in  the  affirmative.     However,  it  can- 


^  Gal.  1. 11 -IT.  14.  See  Middleton's  Reflections  on  the  dispute  be- 
tween Peter  and  Paul,  Works,  Vol.  11. 

2  Acts  n.  14-21,  25-34,  HI.  18,  21-24,  IV.  25,  26,  et  al. 

'  Gal.  IV.  24,  et  seq. ;  1  Cor.  X.  4,  et  seq.,  et  al. 

*  See  the  essay  of  Mr.  Norton  on  this  point,  in  Statement  of 
Reasons,  etc.  p.  297,  et  seq,  and  De  Potter,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p. 
cxl.  et  seq. 

5  2  Pet.  ni.  4,  et  seq. 

29 


338  DISAGREEMENT   OF   THE   EVAI^GELISTS. 

not  be  entered  upon  in  this  place ;  ^  but  admitting,  in 
argument,  the  works  are  genuine,  at  the  first  view, 
there  seems  no  need  of  miraculous  inspiration  in  the 
case  of  honest  men  wishing  to  relate  what  they  had 
seen,  heard,  or  felt.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  why  miraculous 
and  infallible  inspiration  was  needed  to  write  the  me- 
moirs of  Jesus  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  more  than 
the  memoirs  of  Socrates,  or  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs. 
The  writers  never  claim  such  an  inspiration.  Matthew 
and  Mark  never  speak  of  themselves  as  writers  ;  Luke 
refers  to  certain  "  eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the 
Word"  as  his  authority  for  the  facts  of  the  Gospel. 
John  claims  it  as  little  as  the  others,  though  an  un- 
known writer,  at  the  end  of  his  Gospels,  testifies  to  the 
truth  of  the  narrative.^ 

But  even  if  they  made  this  claim,  so  often  made 
for  them,  it  could  not  be  granted,  for  their  testimony 
does  not  agi*ee.  The  Jesus  of  the  Synoptics  differs 
very  widely  from  the  Jesus  of  John,  in  his  actions,  dis- 
courses, and  general  spiritual  character,  as  much  as  the 
Socrates  of  Xenophon  from  that  of  Plato.  This  point 
was  early  acknowledged  by  Christian  Fathers.  But 
not  to  dwell  on  a  general  disagreement,  nor  to  come 
down  to  the  perpetual  and  well-known  disagreement  in 
minute  details,  there  is  a  most  striking  difference  be- 

^  On  the  afSrmative  side,  see  Paley,  Evidences,  Pt.  I. ;  the  mas- 
terly Treatise  of  Mr.  Norton,  Genuineness  of  the  Gospels ;  Pi'of. 
Stuart's  Review  of  it  in  Bib.  Rep.  for  1837-8  ;  and  Lardner's  Credi- 
bility, etc.  See,  on  the  other  side,  the  popular  but  important  remarks 
of  Hennel,  ubi  sup.  ch.  III.- VI.  See  also  Strauss ;  Glaubenslehre,  § 
15  ;  and  the  Life  of  Jesus,  by  Strauss,  Theile,  Neander,  etc.  etc.;  the 
Introductions  of  Hug,  De  Wette,  and  Credner.  Bruno  Baur's  Kritik 
der  evang.  Geschichte  des  Johannes;  1840,  and  der  Synoptiker ; 
1841.     See  above,  the  references  B.  III.  ch.  11.  at  end. 

^  Luke  I.  1,  et  seq.     (See  Acts  I.  1,  et  seq.)     John  XXI.  24. 


DISAGREEMENT   OF   THE   EVANGELISTS.  339 

tween  the  genealogies  of  Jesus  as  given  by  Matthew 
and  Luke.  Both  agree  that  Jesus  was  descended  from 
David  b}^  the  father's  side  :  but  Matthew  counts  twenty- 
five  ancestors  between  David  and  Joseph,  the  husband 
of  Mary,  and  Luke  enumerates  forty  ancestors,  of 
whom  thirty-eight  are  never  mentioned  by  Matthew ; 
one  derives  his  descent  from  the  illustrious  Solomon, 
the  other  from  the  obscure  Nathan  ;  one  makes  Nazareth 
Joseph's  dwelling-place,  the  other  Bethlehem.  They 
disagree,  likewise,  in  numerous  particulars  of  the  early 
history,  such  as  the  miraculous  appearance  of  the  star, 
the  Magi,  the  flight  into  Egypt,  the  songs,  the  angels, 
and  the  dreams.^  Yet  notwithstanding  these  geneal- 
ogies both  agree  that  Jesus  had  no  human  father,  a 
fact  never  referred  to  by  Mark  or  John,  by  Peter  or 
Paul,  nor  in  the  recorded  words  of  Jesus  himself,  or  the 
people  about  him,  who  took  him  for  the  son  of  Joseph 
the  carpenter.  If  he  had  no  human  father,  how  was 
he  descended  from  David  ?  Ai*e  we  to  believe  a  mira- 
cle so  surprising,  on  the  doubtful  statement  of  two  men 
whom  we  know  nothing  of,  but  who  contradict  them- 
selves and  one  another,  and  relate  the  strongest  mar- 
vels ?  Is  it  a  part  of  Religion  to  believe  such  stories  ? 
What  else  would  we  believe  on  such  evidence  ?  It 
were  easy  to  point  out  other  disagreements  in  the 
words,  and  actions,  and   predictions  ascribed  to  Jesus; 

^  See  these  discrepancies  ably  stated  by  Mr.  Norton,  ubi  sup.  P- 
liii.  et  seq.,  and  Strauss,  Life  of  Jesus,  §  19-38,  and  the  popular  state- 
ment in  Harwood,  ubi  sup.  p.  20,  et  seq. ;  Hennel,  ubi  sup.  ch.  III. 
y.  Middleton,  Reflections  on  the  Variations  in  the  Gospels,  work, 
Vol.  II.  See  AVeisseler's  attempt  to  reconcile  these  genealogies. 
Stud,  und  Krit.  flir  1845,  p.  361,  et  seq.  Compare  the  Apocryphal 
Gospels. 


340  CHRISTIANITY   AND    ITS   RECORD. 

in  the  accounts  of  his  resurrection  and  the  impossible 
events  of  his  subsequent  history,  but  it  is  not  needed 
for  the  present  purpose.^  The  book  of  the  Acts,  of 
a  mythical  and  legendary  character,  requires  no  special 
examination. 

This,  however,  must  be  admitted,  that  the  facts  of 
the  case  will  not  warrant  the  claim  of  miraculous  and 
infallible  inspiration  that  is  made  for  them;  and  that  we 
are  to  examine  with  great  caution  before  we  accept 
their  statements,  which,  in  detail,  have  often  but  a  low 
degree  of  historical  credibility .^ 

These  facts  cannot  be  hushed  up,  nor  put  out  of 
sight;  we  must  look  them  in  the  face.  They  have 
pained  already  many  a  breaking  heart,  which  could  not 
separate  the  truth  of  Religion  from  the  errors  of  the 
Christian  record  —  felt  with  groans  that  could  not  be 
uttered.  It  need  not  be  so.  Christianity  is  one  thing  ;  the 
Christian  documents  a  very  different  matter.  In  them, 
as  in  the  Old  Testament,  there  is  a  mythology  ;  the 
natural  and  the  supernatural  are  confounded.  The 
Gospels  cannot  be  taken  as  historical  "  authorities," 
until  a  searchijig  criticism  has  separated  their  mytho- 
logical and  legendary  narratives,  from  what  is  purely  a 
matter-of-fact.  Some  attempt  to  remove  the  difficulty 
by  striking  out  the  offensive  passages,'^  and  others  by 
explaining  them  away,  and  still  claim  miraculous  infal- 

^  See,  ■who  will,  Evanson,  Dissonance  of  the  Evangelists,  Glouces- 
ter, 1805;  Strauss,  §  132-142;  Wolfenbuttel.  Fragment.  Ueber  Auf- 
erstehungsgescliiclite,  and  the  numerous  replies. 

2  On  the  Credibility  of  Historians,  see  Arnold,  Introduct.  Lect.  on 
Mod.  Hist. ;  Lond.  1843,  Lect.  VIH.  See  the  valuable  remarks  of 
Grote,  History  of  Greece  ;  London,  1849,  Vol.  I. 

^  See  Norton,  Vol.  I.  p.  liii.  et  seq. 


NATURAL   ORIGIN    OF   THE   RECORD.  341 

libility  for  all  the  rest,  which  the  writers  never  claim  for 
themselves  nor  allow  one  another.  Let  us  rest  on 
things  as  they  are ;  not  try  to  base  our  Church  on 
things  that  are  not. 

It  may  be  asked:  If  there  is  no  foundation  of  fact 
for  the  miraculous  part  of  the  narrative,  why  did  the 
writers  dwell  so  much  on  this  part  ?  The  question  may 
be  asked  in  the  case  of  the  catholic  miracles  ;  those  of 
St.  Bernard;  of  witchcraft  and  possessions  before 
named.  It  is  at  least  difficult  to  determine  what  lay 
at  the  bottom  of  the  matter.  But  this  is  a  fixed 
point,  that  Devils,  Ghosts,  and  Witches  only  appear 
where  they  were  previously  believed  in,  and  there 
they  continually  appear ;  "  imagination  bodies  forth 
the  forms  of  things  not  seen."  The  Catholic  sees 
the  Virgin,  and  the  Mormonite  finds  miracles  to-day. 
Will  not  the  same  cause  —  whatever  be  it  —  help 
to  explain  the  visions  of  Paul,  the  angels,  and  mira- 
cles of  the  New  Testament  ?  It  is  not  many  years 
since  the  divines  of  New  England  made  collections 
of  accounts  of  the  devil  appearing  to  men.  If  a  relig- 
ious teacher  should  appear  at  the  time  and  place  as 
Jesus  appeared,  it  would  be  surprising,  almost  be- 
yond belief,  if  miraculous  tales  were  not  connected 
with  his  birth,  life,  and  death.  Antiquity  is  full  of 
sons  of  God,  and  wonder-workers.  The  story  of  Laz- 
arus, and  even  that  of  the  Ascension,  is  not  without  its 
parallels. 

But  if  all  the  charges  against  the  New  Testament 
are  true,  what  then  ?  Why,  this  :  honest  men ;  noble, 
pious,  simple-hearted  men ;  the  zealous  Apostles  of 
Christianity  ;   the  first  to  espouse  it ;  willing  to  leave 

29* 


342  G0SPEL8   DO   NOT   EXAGGERATE 


all,   comfort,  friends,  life   for    its   sake,  after  all,  were 
but  men,  such   as  are  born  in  these  days,  fallible,  like 
ourselves;   often  in  intellectual   and   moral  error;  they 
shared  like  us,  the  ignorance  and    superstition  of  the 
times,  and  though  earnest  in  looking  saw  not  all  things, 
but,  as  the  wisest  of  them  said,  "  through  a  glass  dark- 
ly," and  made   some  confusion  among  things  they  did 
see.    Do  we  ask  miraculous  evidence  to  prove  that  Jesus 
lived  a  divine  life  ?     We  can  have  no  such  testimony. 
We   know  that   if   he  taught   Absolute    Religion,  his 
Christianity  is  absolutely  true ;  that  if  he  did  not  teach 
it,  still  Absolute  Religion  remains,  the  everlasting  Rock 
of  Faith,  in  spite  of  the  defects  of  historical  evidence, 
or  the  limitations  of  this  or  that  man.     Has  the  New 
Testament  exaggerated  the  greatness  and  embellished 
the  beauty  of  Jesus  ?     Measure  his  religious  doctrine 
by  that  of  the  time  and  place  he  lived  in,  or  that  of  any 
time  and  any  place !      Yes,  by  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
truth.     Consider  what  a  work  his  words  and  deeds  have 
wrought  in  the  world ;   that   he  is  still  the  Way,  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life  to  millions  ;  that  he  is  reckoned  a 
God  by  the  mass  of  Christians,  his  Word  their  standard 
of  truth,  his  Life  the  Ideal  they  see  too  far  above  them  in 
the  Heavens  for  their  imitation  ;  remember  that  though 
other  minds  have  seen  further,  and  added  new  truths  to 
his  doctrine  of   Religion,  yet  the   richest    hearts   have 
felt  no  deeper,  and  added  nothing  to  the  sentiment  of 
Religion  ;  have  set  no  loftier  aim,  no  truer  method  than 
his  of  PERFECT  love  TO  GoD  AND   MAN,  and   then  ask. 
Have   the   Evangelists  overrated  him  ?     We  can  learn 
few  facts  about  Jesus ;  but  measure  him  by  the  shadow 
he  has  cast  into  the  world  ;  no,  by  the  light  he  has  shed 
upon  it,  not  by  things  in  which  Hercules  was  his  equal, 
and   Vishnu  his  superior.     Shall  we  be  told.   Such   a 


THE    GREATNESS    OF   JESUS.  343 

man  never  lived  ;  the  whole  story  is  a  lie  ?  Suppose 
that  Plato  and  Newton  never  lived;  that  their  story  is 
a  lie.  But  who  did  their  works,  and  thought  their 
thought?  It  takes  a  Newton  to  forge  a  Newton. 
What  man  could  have  fabricated  a  Jesus  ?  None  but 
a  Jesus. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   ABSOLUTE   RELIGION   INDEPENDENT   OF    HISTORICAL 
DOCUMENTS — THE   BIBLE   AS   IT   IS. 

This  doctrine  of  the  infallible  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  has  greater  power  with  Christians  at  this 
day  than  in  Paul's  time.  In  the  first  ages  of  Christian- 
ity, each  apostle  was  superior  to  the  Old  Testament. 
There  were  no  Scriptures  to  rely  on,  for  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  not  written,  and  the  Old  Testament  was 
hostile.  The  Law  stood  in  their  way,  a  law  of  sin  and 
death  ;  the  greatest  prophets  were  inferior  to  John  the 
Baptist,  and  the  least  in  the  Christian  kingdom  was 
greater  than  he;^  all  before  Jesus  were  "thieves  and 
robbers  "  in  comparison.  Yet  Christianity  stood  with- 
out the  New  Testament.  It  went  forward  without  it; 
made  converts  and  produced  a  wondrous  change  in  the 
world.  The  Old  Testament  was  the  servant,  not  the 
master  of  the  early  Christians.  Each  church  used 
what  it  saw  fit.  Some  had  the  whole  of  the  Old 
Testament ;  some  but  a  part ;  others  added  the  Apocry- 
pha,   for   there  was    no    settled    canon  "  published    by 

^  The  opinion  of  some  disciples  about  the  excellence  of  that  king- 
dom may  be  seen  in  Irenaeus,  Lib.  II.  Ch.  33,  where  he  speaks  of  the 
Vine-Stocks. 
(344) 


THE   BIBLE   AS    IT   IS.  345 

authority,  and  appointed  to  be  read  in  churches."  So 
it  was  with  the  New  Testament.  Some  received  more 
than  we,  others  less.  Such  men  as  Justin,  Ignatius, 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  Origen,  refer  to  some  other 
books,  just  as  they  quote  the  New  Testament.  The 
canon  of  the  New  Testament  was  less  certain  than  the 
Old.  Men  followed  usage,  tradition,  or  good  sense  in 
this  matter,  and  at  last  the  present  collection  Avas  fixed 
by  authority.  But  by  what  test  were  its  limits  decided  ? 
Alas,  by  no  certain  criterion.^ 

Let  us  look  at  things  as  they  are.  Here  is  a  collec- 
tion of  ancient  books,  spurious  and  genuine,  Hebrew 
and  Greek.  The  one  part  belongs  to  a  mode  of  wor- 
ship, formal  and  obsolete ;  the  other  to  a  religion, 
actual,  spiritual,  still  alive.  The  one  gives  us  a  Jeho- 
vah jealous  and  angry  ;  the  other  a  Father  full  of  love. 
Each  writer  in  both  divisions  proves  by  his  imperfec- 
tions that  the  earth  did  not  formerly  produce  a  different 
race  of  men.  They  contradict  one  another,  and  some 
relate  what  no  testimony  can  render  less  than  absurd ; 
but  yet  all  taken  together,  spite  of  their  imperfections 
and  positive  faults,  form  such  a  collection  of  religious 
writings  as  the  world  never  saw,  so  deep,  so  divine. 
Are  not  the  Christian  Gospels  and  the  Hebrew  Psalms 
still  often  the  best  part  of  the  Sunday  service  in  the 
church  ?  Truly  there  is  but  one  Religion  for  the  Jew, 
the  Gentile,  and  the  Christian,  though  many  theologies 
and  ceremonies  for  each. 

Now,  unless  we  reject  this  treasure  entirely,  one   of 

^  On  the  use  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  early  times,  see  Credner, 
Beitrage  zur  Einleit.  in  biblischen  Schriften.  Ch.  I.  p.  1-90.  Miin- 
scher,  Handbuch  der  Dogmengeschichte,  Vol.  I.  §  30-84.  Augusti, 
Christlichen  Archaologle,  Vol.  VI.  p.  1-244,  and  De  Wette,  Vol.  I.  § 
18-29. 


346  WISE  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

two  things  must  be  done :  either  we  must  pretend  to 
believe  the  whole,  absurdities  and  all ;  make  one  part 
just  as  valuable  as  the  other,  the  Law  of  Moses  as  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  David's  curse  as  Christ's  blessing,  — 
and  then  we  make  the  Bible  our  master,  who  puts  Com 
mon  Sense  and  Reason  to  silence,  and  drives  Con- 
science and  the  religious  Element  out  of  the  Church  : 
or  else  we  must  accept  what  is  trUe,  good,  and  divine 
therein  ;  take  each  part  for  what  it  is  worth ;  gather  the 
good  together,  and  leave  the  bad  to  itself — and  then 
we  make  the  Bible  our  servant  and  helper,  who  assists 
Common  Sense  and  Reason,  stimulates  Conscience  and 
Religion,  coworking  with  them  all.  A  third  thing  is 
not  possible. 

Which  shall  be  done  ?  The  practical  answer  was 
given  long  ago ;  it  has  always  been  given,  except  in 
times  of  fanatical  excitement.  Because  there  is  chaff 
and  husks  in  the  Bible,  are  we  to  eat  of  them,  when 
there  is  bread  enough  and  to  spare  ?  Pious  men  neg- 
lect what  does  not  edify.^  Who  reads  gladly  the  curses 
of  the  Psalmist ;  chapters  that  make  God  a  man  of  war, 
a  jealous  God,  the  butcher  of  the  nations  ?  Certainly 
but  few ;  let  them  be  exhorted  to  repentance.  Men 
cannot  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  grasp  them  never  so 
lovingly ;  honest  men  will  leave  the  thorns,  or  pluck 
them  up.  Now  Criticism  —  which  the  thinking  char- 
acter of  the  age  demands  —  asks  men  to  do  consciously, 
and  thoroughly  what  they  have  always  done  imperfectly 
and  with  no  science  but  that  of  a  pious  heart ;  that  i«,  to 
divide  the  word  rightly  ;  separate  mythology  from  his- 
tory, fact  from  fiction,  what   is   religious   and  of  God, 

^  See  Augustine,  Doct.  Christiana,  Lib.  1.  C.  39,  who  says  a  man, 
supported  by  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  does  not  need  the  Bible 
except  to  teach  others  with. 


THE   BIBLE   AND    THE   KORAN.  347 

from  what  is  earthly  and  not  of  God ;  to  take  the 
Bible  for  what  it  is  worth.  Fearful  of  the  issue  we 
may  put  off  the  question  a  few  years  ;  may  insist  as 
strongly  as  ever  on  what  we  know  to  be  false  ;  ask 
men  to  believe  it,  because  in  the  records,  and  thus  drive 
bad  men  to  hypocrisy,  good  men  to  madness,  and 
thinking  men  to  "  infidelity  ;  "  we  may  throw  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  Religion  and  Morality,  and  tie  the  mill- 
stone of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  about  the  neck 
of  Piety  as  before.  We  may  call  men  "  Infidels  and 
Atheists,"  whom  Reason  and  Religion  compel  to  uplift 
their  voice  against  the  idolatry  of  the  Church ;  or  we 
may  attempt  to  smooth  over  the  matter,  and  say  noth- 
ing about  it,  or  not  what  we  think.  But  it  will  not  do. 
The  day  of  Fire  and  Fagots  is  ended ;  the  toothless 
"  Guardian  of  the  Faith "  can  only  bark.  The  ques- 
tion will  come,  though  alas  for  that  man  by  whom  it 
comes. 

Other  religions  have  their  sacred  books,  their  Korans, 
Vedas,  Shasters,  which  must  be  received  in  spite  of 
Reason,  as  masters  of  the  soul.  Some  would  put  the 
Bible  on  the  same  ground.  They  glory  in  believing 
whatever  is  prefaced  with  a  Thus-saith-the-Lord  ;  but 
then  all  superiority  of  the  Bible  over  these  books 
disappears  forever ;  the  daylight  gives  place  to  the 
shadow ;  the  Law  of  Sin  and  Death  casts  out  the  Law 
of  the  Spirit  of  Life.  Let  honest  Reason  and  Religion 
pursue  their  own  way. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CAUSE  OF  THE  FALSE  AND  THE  REAL  VENERATION  FOR 

THE  BIBLE. 

The  indolent  and  the  sensual  love  to  have  a  visible 
master  in  spiritual  things,  who  will  spare  them  the 
agony  of  thought.  Credulity,  Ignorance,  and  Supersti- 
tion conjure  up  phantoms  to  attend  them.  Some 
honest  men  find  it  difficult  to  live  nobly  and  divine  ;  to 
keep  the  well  of  life  pure  and  undisturbed,  the  inward 
ear  always  open  and  quick  to  the  voice  of  God  in  the 
soul.  They  see,  too,  how  often  the  ignorant,  the  wicked, 
the  superstitious,  and  the  fanatical  confound  their  own 
passions  with  the  still  small  voice  of  God;  they  see 
what  evil,  deep  and  dreadful,  comes  of  this  confusion. 
Such  is  the  force  of  prejudice,  indolence,  habit,  they 
find  it  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  between  right 
and  wrong ;  they  love  to  lean  on  the  Most  High,  and 
the  Bible  is  declared  His  word.  They  say,  therefore, 
by  their  action.  Let  us  have  some  outward  rule  and 
authority,  which,  being  infallible,  shall  help  the  still 
sinallness  of  God's  voice  in  the  heart;  it  will  bless  us 
when  weak ;  we  will  make  it  our  master  and  obey  its 
voice.  It  shall  be  to  us  as  a  God,  and  we  will  fall 
down   and  worship  it.     But   alas,  it  is   not   so.       The 

(348) 


TRUTH   AND    AUTHORITY.  849 

word  of  God  —  no  Scripture  will  hold  that,  ft  speaks 
in  a  language  no  honest  mind  can  fail  to  read.  Such 
seem  the  most  prominent  causes  that  have  made  the 
Bible  an  Idol  of  the  Christians. 

No  doubt  it  will  be  said,  "  such  views  are  dangerous, 
for  the  mass  of  men  must  always  take  Authority  for 
Truth,  not  Truth  for  Authority."  But  are  they  not 
true  ?  If  so  the  consequences  are  not  ours  ;  they  belong 
to  the  Author  of  truth,  who  can  manage  his  own  affairs, 
without  our  meddling.  Is  the  wrong  way  safer  than 
the  right?  No  doubt  it  was  reckoned  dangerous  to 
abandon  the  worship  of  Diana,  of  the  cross,  the  saints 
and  their  reliques  ;  but  the  world  stands,  though  "  the 
image  that  fell  down  from  Jupiter"  is  forgotten.  If 
these  doctrines  be  true,  men  need  not  fear  they  shall 
have  no  "  standard  of  religious  faith  and  practice." 
Reason,  Conscience,  Heart,  and  Soul  still  remain  ;  God's 
voice  in  Nature ;  His  Word  in  Man.  His  Laws  remain 
ever  unchanged,  though  we  set  up  our  idols  or  pluck 
them  down.  We  still  have  the  same  guide  with  Moses 
and  David,  Socrates  and  Zoroaster,  Paul  and  John  and 
Luther,  Fenelon,  Taylor,  and  Fox  ;  yes,  the  same  guide 
that  led  Jesus,  the  first-born  of  many  brothers,  in  his 
steep  and  lonely  pilgrimage. 

This  doctrine  takes  nothing  from  the  Bible  but  its 
errors,  which  only  weaken  its  strength  ;  its  truth  re- 
mains, brilliant  and  burning  with  the  light  of  life.  It 
calls  us  away  from  each  outvs^ard  standard  to  the  eternal 
truths  of  God ;  from  the  letter  and  the  imperfect  Scrip- 
ture of  the  Word  to  the  living  Word  itself.  Then  we 
see  the  true  relation  the  Bible  sustains  to  the  soul ;  the 
cause  of  the  real  esteem  in  which  it  is  held  is  seen  to  be 
in  its  moral  and  religious  truths;  their  power  and  love- 

30 


350  EXCELLENCE    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

liness  appear.  These  have  had  the  greatest  influence 
on  the  loftiest  minds  and  the  lowliest  hearts  for  eighteen 
hundred  years.  How  they  have  written  themselves  all 
over  the  world,  deepest  in  the  best  of  men  !  What 
greatness  of  soul  has  been  found  amid  the  fragrant 
leaves  of  the  Bible,  sufficient  to  lead  men  to  embrace 
its  truths,  though  at  the  expense  of  accepting  tales 
which  make  the  blood  curdle  I 

Take  the  Bible  for  what  is  true  in  it,  and  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  is  a  grand  hymn  of  creation,  a 
worthy  prelude  of  the  sublime  chants  that  follow;  it 
sings  this  truth  :  The  World  was  not  always  ;  is  not  the 
work  of  chance,  but  of  the  living  God ;  all  things  are 
good,  made  to  be  blest.  The  writer  —  who,  perhaps, 
never  thought  he  was  writing  "  an  article  of  faith  "  — 
if  he  were  a  Jew,  might  superstitiously  refer  the  Sab- 
bath to  the  time  of  creation  and  the  agency  of  God, 
just  as  the  Greek  refers  one  festival  to  Hercules,  and 
another  to  Bacchus.  Then  oriental  Piety  comes  beau- 
tiful from  the  grave  hewn  in  the  rock  by  our  dull  The- 
ology ;  utters  her  word  of  counsel  and  hope ;  sings  her 
mythological  poem,  and  warms  the  heart,  but  does  not 
teach  theology,  or  physical  science. 

The  sweet  notes  of  David's  prayer ;  his  mystic  hymn 
of  praise,  so  full  of  rippling  life;  his  lofty  Psalm,  wiiich 
seems  to  unite  the  warbling  music  of  the  wind,  the 
sun's  glance,  and  the  rush  of  the  lightning ;  which  calls 
on  the  mountain  and  the  sea,  and  beast,  and  bird,  and 
man,  to  join  his  full  heart,  —  all  these  shall  be  sweet 
and  elevating,  but  we  shall  leave  his  pernicious  curse  to 
perish  where  it  fell. 

The  excellence  of  the  Hebrew  devotional  hymns  has 
never  been  surpassed.  Heathenism,  Christianity,  with 
all  their  science,  arts,  literature,  bright  and  many.-col- 


EXCELLENCE  OF  THE  BIBLE.  351 

ored,  have  little  that  approach  these.  They  are  the 
despair  of  imitators ;  still  the  uttered  prayer  of  the 
Christian  world.  Tell  us  of  Greece,  whose  air  was  red- 
olent of  song ;  its  language  such  as  Jove  might  speak ; 
its  sages,  heroes,  poets,  honored  in  every  clime,  —  they 
have  no  psalm  of  prayer  and  praise  like  these  Hebrews, 
the  devoutest  of  men,  who  saw  God  always  before 
them,  ready  to  take  them  up  when  father  and  mother  let 
them  fall. 

Some  of  the  old  prophets  were  men  of  stalwart  and 
robust  character,  set  off  by  a  masculine  piety  that  puts 
to  shame  our  puny  littleness  of  heart.  They  saw  Hope 
the  plainest  when  danger  was  most  imminent,  and 
never  despaired.  Fear  of  the  people,  the  rulers,  the 
priests,  could  not  awe  them  to  silence,  nor  gold  buy 
smooth  things  from  the  prophet's  tongue.  They  left 
Hypocrisy,  with  his  weeds  and  weepers,  and  feigning 
but  unstained  handkerchief,  to  follow  the  coffin  he 
knew  to  be  empty,  and  went  their  own  way,  as  men. 
What  shall  screen  the  guilty  from  the  prophet's  word  ? 
Even  David  is  met  with  a  Thou-art-the-man.  What  if 
they  were  stoned,  imprisoned,  sawn  asunder  ?  It  was 
a  prophet's  reward.  They  did  not  prophesy  smooth 
things ;  they  gave  the  truth  and  took  blows,  not  asking 
love  for  love.  If  these  men  are  set  up  as  masters  of 
the  soul.  Justice  must  break  her  staff  over  their  heads. 
But  view  them  as  patriots  whom  danger  aroused  from 
the  repose  of  life ;  as  pious  men  awakened  by  concern 
for  the  public  virtue,  and  nobler  men  never  spoke  speech. 

Out  from  the  heart  of  Nature  rolled 
The  burdens  of  the  Bible  old. 

Little  needs  now  be  said  of  the  New  Testament,  of 
the  simple  truth  that  rustles  in  its  leaves,  its  parables, 


352  EXCELLENCE    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

epistles,  where  Paul  lifts  up  his  manly  voice,  and  John, 
or  whoso  wrote  the  words,  pours  out  the  mystic  melody 
of  his  faith.  Why  tell  the  deep  words  of  Jesus  ?  Have 
we  exhausted  their  meaning  ?  The  world  —  has  it  out- 
grown Love  to  God  and  Man  ?  They  still  act  in  gen- 
tle bosoms,  giving  strength  to  the  strong,  and  justice 
and  meekness  and  charity  and  faith  to  beautiful  souls, 
long  tried  and  oppressed.  There  is  no  need  of  new 
words  to  tell  of  this. 

Now  it  is  not  in  nature  to  respect  the  false,  and  yet 
reverence-the  true.  Call  the  Bible  master  —  we  do  not 
see  the  excellence  it  has.  Take  it  as  other  books,  we 
have  its  Beauty,  Truth,  Religion,  not  its  deformities, 
fables,  and  theology.  We  shall  not  believe  in  ghosts, 
though  Isaiah  did  ;  nor  in  devils,  though  Jesus  teach 
there  are  such.  We  shall  see  the  excellence  of  Paul  in 
his  manly  character,  not  in  the  miracles  wrought  by  his 
apron  ;  the  nobleness  of  Jesus,  in  the  doctrine  he  taught 
and  the  life  he  lived,  not  in  the  walk  on  the  water  or 
the  miraculous  draughts  of  fish.  We  shall  care  little 
about  the  '•  endless  genealogies  and  old-wives'  fables," 
though  still  deemed  essential  by  many  —  but  much  for 
being  good  and  doing  good.  Our  faith  —  let  him 
shake  down  the  Andes  who  has  an  arm  for  that  work. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  that  accepts  the  monstrous 
prodigies  of  the  Gospels  ;  is  delighted  to  believe  that 
Jesus  had  divine  authority  for  laying  on  forms,  and  damn- 
ing all  but  the  baptized  ;  that  he  gave  Peter  authority 
to  bind  and  loose  on  earth  and  in  heaven  ;  commanded 
his  disciples  to  make  friends  of  "  the  mammon  of  un- 
righteousness," to  tease  God,  as  an  unjust  judge,  into 
compliance,  with  vain  repetitions  —  can  he  accept  the 
Absolute  Religion  ?     It  is  not  possible,  for  a  long  time, 


CAUSE   OF   ITS   INFLUENCE.  353 

to  make  serious  things  of  trifles,  without  making  trifles 
of  serious  things.  Cannot  drunkenness  be  justified  out 
of  the  Old  Testament ;  the  very  Solomon  advising  the 
poor  man  to  drown  his  sorrows  in  wine?  Jeremiah 
curses  the  man  that  will  not  fight.^  Is  not  Sarah  com- 
mended by  the  Fathers  of  the  church,  and  Abraham  by 
the  Sons  ?  Men  justify  slavery  out  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, because  Paul  had  not  his  eye  open  to  the  evil, 
but  sent  back  a  fugitive !  It  is  dangerous  to  rely  on  a 
troubled  fountain  for  the  water  of  life. 

The  good  influence  of  the  Bible,  past  and  present,  as 
of  all  religious  books,  rests  on  its  religious  significance. 
Its  truths  not  only  sustain  themselves,  but  the  mass  of 
errors  connected  therewith.  Truth  can  never  pass 
away.  Men  sometimes  fear  the  Bible  will  be  destroyed 
by  freedom  of  thought  and  freedom  of  speech.  Let  it 
perish  if  such  be  the  case.  Truth  cannot  fear  the  light, 
nor  are  men  so  mad  as  to  forsake  a  well  of  living  water. 
All  the  freethinking  in  the  world  could  not  destroy  the 
Iliad  ;  how  much  less  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  Things 
at  last  will  pass  for  their  true  value.  The  truths  of  the 
Bible,  which  have  fed  and  comforted  the  noblest  souls 
for  so  many  centuries,  may  be  trusted  to  last  our  day. 
The  Bible  has  already  endured  the  greatest  abuse  at 
the  hands  of  its  friends,  who  make  it  an  idol,  and 
would  have  all  men  do  it  homage.  We  need  call  none 
our  Master  but  the  Father  of  All.  Yet  the  Bible, 
if  wisely  used,  is  still  a  blessed  teacher.  Spite  of  the 
superstition  and  folly  of  its  worshippers,  it  has  helped 
millions  to  that  fountain  where  Moses  and  Jesus,  with 
the  holy-hearted  of  all  time,  have  stooped  and  been 
filled.     We  see  the  mistakes  of  its  writers,  for  though 

1  Proverbs  XXXVI.  6,  et  seq.    Jer.  XLVIH.  10. 
30* 


354  BIBLE   MADE   FOR   MAN. 

noble  and  of  great  stature,  they  saw  not  all  things. 
We  reject  their  follies  ;  but  their  words  of  truth  are  still 
before  us,  to  admonish,  to  encourage,  and  to  bless. 
From  time  to  time  God  raises  up  a  prophet  to  lead 
mankind.  He  speaks  his  word  as  it  is  given  him ; 
serves  his  generation  for  the  time,  and  falls  at  last, 
when  it  is  expedient  he  should  give  way  to  the  next 
Comforter  whom  God  shall  send.  But  mankind  is 
greater  than  a  man,  and  never  dies.  The  experience 
of  the  past  lives  in  the  present.  The  light  that  shone 
at  Nineveh,  Egypt,  Judea,  Athens,  Rome,  shines  no 
more  from  those  points  ;  it  is  everywhere.  Can  Truth 
decease,  and  a  good  idea  once  made  real  ever  perish  ? 
Mankind,  moving  solemnly  on  its  appointed  road,  from 
age  to  age,  passes  by  its  imperfect  teachers,  guided  by 
their  light,  blessed  by  their  toil,  and  sprinkled  with  their 
blood.  But  Truth,  like  her  God,  is  before  and  above 
us  forever.  So  we  pass  by  the  lamps  of  the  street, 
with  wonder  at  their  light,  though  but  a  smoky  glare  ; 
they  seem  to  change  places  and  burn  dim  in  the  dis- 
tance as  we  go  on ;  at  last  the  solid  walls  of  darkness 
shut  them  in.  But  high  over  our  head  are  the  unsul- 
lied stars,  which  never  change  their  place,  nor  dim  their 
eye.  So  the  truths  of  the  Scriptures  will  teach  forever, 
though  the  record  perish  and  its  authors  be  forgot. 
They  came  from  God,  through  the  Soul  of  Man.  They 
have  exhausted  neither  God  nor  the  Soul.  Man  is 
greater  than  the  Bible.  That  is  one  ray  out  of  the 
sun  ;  one  drop  from  the  infinite  ocean.  The  inward 
Christ,  which  alone  abideth  forever,  has  much  to  say 
which  the  Bible  never  told,  much  which  the  historical 
Jesus  never  knew.  The  Bible  is  made  for  Man,  not 
Man  for  the  Bible.  Its  truths  are  old  as  the  creation, 
repeated  more  or  less  purely  in  every  tongue.     Let  its 


BIBLE   MADE   FOR   MAN.  355 

errors  and  absurdities  no  longer  be  forced  on  the  pious 
mindj  but  perish  forever ;  let  the  Word  of  God  come 
through  Conscience,  Reason,  and  holy  Feeling,  as  light 
through  the  windows  of  morning.  Worship  with  no 
master  but  God,  no  creed  but  Truth,  no  service  but 
Love,  and  we  have  nothing  to  fear. 


BOOK   V. 


(367) 


"  When  the  Church,  without  temporal  support,  is  able  ^o  do  her  great  works  upon 
the  unforced  obedience  of  man,  it  argues  a  divinity  about  her.  But  when  she  thinks 
to  credit  and  better  her  spiritual  efficacy,  and  to  win  herself  respect  and  dread,  by 
strutting  in  the  false  vizard  of  worldly  authority,  it  is  evident  that  God  is  not  there, 
but  that  her  apostolic  virtue  is  departed  from  her,  and  hath  left  her  key -cold  ;  which 
she  perceiving,  as  in  a  decayed  nature,  seeks  to  the  outward  fermentations  and 
chafings  of  worldly  help,  and  external  flourishes,  to  fetch,  if  it  be  possible,  some 
motion  into  her  extreme  parts,  or  to  hatch  a  counterfeit  life  with  the  crafty  and 
artificial  heat  of  jurisdiction.  But  it  is  observable,  that  so  long  as  the  Church,  in 
true  imitation  of  Christ,  can  be  content  to  ride  upon  an  ass,  carrying  herself  and  her 
government  along  in  a  mean  and  simple  guise,  she  may  be,  as  he  is,  a  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah  ;  and  in  her  humility  all  men,  with  loud  hosannas,  will  confess  her  great- 
ness. But  when,  despising  the  mighty  operation  of  the  Spirit  by  the  weak  things  of 
this  world,  she  thinks  to  make  herself  bigger  and  more  considerable  by  using  the  way 
of  civil  force  and  jurisdiction,  as  she  sits  upon  this  Lion,  she  changes  into  an  Ass,  and 
instead  of  hosannas,  every  man  pelts  her  with  stones  and  dirt."  —  Milton.  —  The  Kea- 
son  of  Church  Government  xirged  against  Prelacy,  Chap.  III. 

(358) 


BOOK  V. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  EELIGIOUS  ELEMENT  TO  THE  GREAT- 
EST OF  HUMAN'  INSTITUTIONS,  OR  A  DISCOURSE  OF  THE 
CHURCH. 


CHAPTER    I. 

CLAmS   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

The  Catholic  church,  and  most  if  not  all  the  minor 
Protestant  churches,  claim  saperiority  over  Reason, 
Conscience,  and  the  religious  Element  in  the  individual 
soul,  assuming  dominion  over  these,  as  the  State  justly 
assumes  authority  over  the  excessive  passions  and  self- 
ishness of  men.  Now  since  the  former  are  not,  like  the 
latter,  evils  in  themselves,  the  Church,  to  justify  itself, 
must  denounce  them  either  as  emanations  from  the 
devil,  or  at  best  as  uncertain  and  dangerous  guides. 
The  churches  make  this  claim  of  superiority,  either  dis- 
tinctly in  their  creeds  and  formularies  of  faith,  claiming 
a  divine  origin  for  themselves,  or  by  implication,  in  their 
actions,  when  they  condemn  and  blast  with  curses  one 
who  differs  from  them  in  religious  matters,  and  teaches 
doctrines  they  disapprove.     In  virtue  of  this  assumed 

(359) 


360        CHURCH  CONDEMNS  THE  HEATHEN. 

superiority  the  Christian  Church,  as  a  whole,  denies 
what  it  calls  "  salvation "  to  all  out  of  the  Christian 
Church  —  excepting  some  of  the  Jews  before  Christ  — 
though  their  life  be  divine  as  an  angel's.  How  often 
have  Socrates  and  that  long  line  of  noble  men  who  do 
honor  to  Greek  and  Roman  antiquity,  been  damned  by 
hirelings  of  the  Church  ?  The  Catholic  church  denies 
salvation  to  all  out  of  its  pale,  and  in  general  each 
church  of  the  straiter  and  more  numerous  sects  confirms 
the  damnation  of  all  who  think  more  liberally.  Men 
who  expose  to  scorn  the  folly  of  their  assumptions,  the 
Bayles,  the  Humes,  the  Voltaires  ;  men  who  will  not 
accept  their  pretensions,  the  Newtons,  the  Lockes,  the 
Priestleys,  the  Channings  have  their  warrant  of  eternal 
damnation  made  out  and  sealed  ;  not  because  their  life 
was  bad,  but  their  faith  not  orthodox  I  Supported  by 
this  claim  of  superiority  on  the  churches'  part,  canon- 
ized Ignorance  may  blast  Learning  ;  .ecclesiastical  Dul- 
ness  condemn  secular  Genius  ;  and  surpliced  Impiety, 
with  shameless  forehead,  may  damn  Religion,  meek 
and  thoughtful,  who  out  of  the  narrow  church,  walks 
with  beautiful  feet  on  the  rugged  path  of  mortal  life, 
and  makes  real  the  kingdom  of  Heaven. 

For  many  centuries  it  has  been  a  heresy  in  the  Chris- 
tian churches  to  believe  that  any  man  out  of  their  walls, 
could  expect  less  than  damnation  in  the  next  world  ;  it 
is  still  a  heresy.  It  is  taught  with  great  plainness  by 
the  majority  of  Christians,  that  God  will  damn  to 
eternal  torments  the  majority  of  his  children,  because 
they  are  not  in  any  of  the  Christian  churches.^     If  we 

^  For  the  opinion  of  the  Catholics  on  this  point,  see  instar  omnium 
Bossuet,  Hist,  des  Variations,  Liv.  11.  et  al. ;  for  that  of  the  Protes- 
tants, see  their  various  confessions,  etc.,  conveniently  collected  in 
Niemeyer,  Collectio  Confessionum  in  Ecclesiis  reformatis ;  Lips.  1840. 


A  MODEL  MAN  IN  THE  CHURCH.         361 

look  into  the  value  of  this  claim  of  superiority,  we  shall 
jfind  the  foundation  on  which  it  rests.  It  must  be  either 
in  the  Idea  of  a  Church,  or  in  the  Fact  of  the  Christian 
Church  receiving  this  delegated  power  from  a  human  or 
a  divine  founder. 


I.   Of  the  Idea  of  a  Church, 

We  do  not  speak,  except  figuratively,  of  a  Church  of 
Moses  or  Mahomet.  It  seems  to  be  necessary  to  the 
idea  of  a  visible  and  historical  Church,  that  there  should 
be  a  model-man  for  its  central  figure,  around  whom 
others  are  to  be  grouped.  He  must  be  an  example  of 
the  virtues  Religion  demands ;  an  incarnation  of  God, 
to  adopt  the  phrase  of  ancient  India,  which  has  since 
become  so  prevalent  among  the  Christians.  Now 
Moses,  viewed  as  a  mythological  character,  and  Ma- 
homet, as  an  historical  person,  were  not  model-men,  but 
miraculous  characters  whose  relation  to  God  and  per- 
fection of  life  each  faithful  soul  might  not  share,  for  it 
was  peculiar  to  themselves.  Their  character  was  not 
their  own  work.  It  was  made  for  them  by  God,  and 
therefore  they  could  not  be  objects  of  imitation.  It 
would  be  impious  madness  in  the  Mussulman  or  the 
Jew,  to  aim  at  the  perfections  of  the  great  prophet  who 
stood  above  him. 

Now  there  is  this  peculiarity  of  the  greater  part  of 
Christians,  that  while  they  affirm  Jesus  to  be  God,  by 
the  divine  side,  they  yet  claim  him  as  a  model-man,  on 
the  human  side,  and  so  call  him  a  God-man.^     About 

Hahn,  ubi  sup.  §  103  and  143.    Bretschneider,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  11.  §  204, 
p.  1 74,  et  seq.     But  see  Hase,  Hutterus  redivivus,  §  88. 

^  This  term  God-man^  is  of  Heathen  origin,  and  involves  a  contra- 
diction as  much  as  the  term   Circle-triangle.      The  common  mistake 

31 


362  JESUS   A  MODEL-MAN. 

this  central  figure,  the  Christian  Church  is  grouped. 
The  fourth  gospel  represents  him  as  the  Way,  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life,  for  all  men.  The  churches  also 
assume  that  he  is  to  be  imitated.  But  they  assume 
this  in  defiance  of  logic,  for  Jesus  is  represented  as 
born  miraculously,  endowed  with  miraculous  powers, 
and  separated  from  all  others  by  his  peculiar  relation  to 
God,  in  short,  as  a  God-man.  Of  course  he  must  be  a 
model  only  to  other  God-men,  who  are  born  miracu- 
lously, endowed  and  defended  as  he  was ;  he  is  no 
model  to  men  born  of  flesh  and  blood,  who  have  none 
but  human  powers.  But  he  is  the  only  God-man,  and 
so  no  model  to  any  one.  Still  more  if  the  Christian 
churches  view  him  as  the  infinite  God  with  all  His 
Infinity,  dwelling  in  the  flesh,  it  is  absurd  to  make  him 
a  model  for  men.  But  the  churches  have  rarely  stopped 
at  an  absurdity.  They  "  call  things  that  are  not  as  if 
they  were."  Yet  since  the  life  of  Jesus  appears  so  en- 
tirely human  in  his  friendships,  sorrows,  love,  prayer, 
temptation,  triumph,  and  death,  and  the  Apostles  now 
and  then  represent  him  as  the  gi'eat  example  —  the 
churches  could  not  forbear  making  him  the  model-man. 
Hence  the  homilies  of  the  Preacher ;  the  disquisition 
of  the  Schoolmen ;  the  glorifying  treatise  of  the  Mystic ; 
the  painting  of  the  Artist,  giving  us  his  Triumph, 
Transfiguration,  Farewell  Meeting,  and  Crucifixion  — 
all  aim  to  bring  the  Great  Exemplar  distinctly  before 
human  consciousness,  in  the  most  prominent  scenes  of 
his  life,  and  always  as  a  man,  that  the  lesson  of  divinity 
might  not  be  lost. 

Now  if  he  be  this  model-man,  and  the  churches  are 

seems  to  arise  i&'om  taking  s,  figure  of  speech  for  a  matter-off  act,  ^laiah 
leads  to  worse  confusion  in  Theology  than  it  would  in  Geometry. 


JESUS  FOUNDED  NO  CHURCH.  363 

but  assemblies  of  men  and  women  grouped  about  him, 
to  be  instructed  by  his  words,  and  warned  by  his  ex- 
ample, it  is  not  easy  to  see  what  authority  they  naturally 
have  over  the  individual  soul. 

II.  Of  the  Fact  of  the  Christian  Churches, 
If  Jesus  were  but  a  wise  and  good  man,  no  word  of 
his  could  have  authority  over  Reason  and  Conscience. 
At  best,  it  could  repeat  their  oracles,  and  therefore  he 
could  never  found  an  institution  which  should  be  Mas- 
ter of  the  Soul.  But  even  if  he  were  what  the  churches 
pretend,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  has  given  this  au- 
thority to  any  on  earth.  If  we  may  credit  the  Gospels, 
Jesus  established  no  organization ;  founded  no  church 
in  any  common  sense  of  that  term.  He  taught  wher- 
ever men  would  listen ;  to  numbers  in  the  synagogue, 
temple,  and  fields;  to  a  few  in  the  little  cottage  at 
Bethany,  and  in  the  fisher's  boat.  He  gave  no  in- 
struction to  his  disciples  to  found  a  church ;  he  sent 
them  forth  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  to  all  mankind : 
the  Spirit  within  was  their  calling  and  authority ;  Jesus 
their  example ;  God  their  guide,  protector,  and  head. 
In  all  the  ministrations  of  Jesus,  there  is  nothing  which 
approaches  the  formation  of  a  church.  What  was 
freely  received  was  to  be  given  as  freely.  Baptism  and 
the  Supper  were  accidents.  He  appointed  no  particu- 
lar body  of  men  as  teachers,  but  sent  forth  his  disciples 
all  of  them,  to  proclaim  the  truth.  The  twelve  had  no 
actual  authority  over  others  ;  no  preeminence  in  spread- 
ing the  Gospel.  Had  they  a  right  to  bind  and  to  loose  ? 
Let  Paul  answer  the  question.^     The  first  martyr,  the 

^  Galat.  I.  n.  et  al.  Strauss,  ch.  Y.  Schweglcr,  ISTachapost.  Zeit- 
alter;  Tiib.  1846,  Yol.  I.  p.  114,  et  seq.  Baur,  Paulus  der  Apostel ; 
Stuttgart,  1846,  p.  104,  et  seq. 


364        THE  APOSTLES  HAD  NO  AUTHORITY 

most  active  Evangelist,  and  the  greatest  Apostle  were 
not  of  the  twelve.  Excepting  Peter,  James,  and  John, 
the  rest  did  little  that  we  know  of.^  Did  Jesus  say  — 
as  Matthew  relates  —  that  he  would  found  a  church  on 
Simon  Peter  ?  It  must  have  been  a  sandy  foundation.^ 
Paul  did  not  fear  to  withstand  him  to  the  face.  Jesus 
appointed  neither  place  nor  day  for  worship.  AH  the 
commands  of  the  decalogue  are  reinforced  in  the  New 
Testament,  excepting  that  which  enjoins  the  Sabbath  ; 
all  the  rest  are  natural  laws.  Religion  with  Jesus  was 
a  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  a  service  at  all  times 
and  in  every  place.  He  fell  back  on  natural  Religion 
and  Morality,  demanding  a  divine  life,  purity  without 
and  piety  within ;  but  he  left  the  When,  the  Where 
and  the  How  to  take  care  of  themselves.  A  Church,  in 
Dur  sense  of  the  term,  is  not  so  much  as  named  in  the 
Gospels.  But  Religion,  above  all  emotions,  brings 
men  together.  Uniting  around  this  central  figure, 
bound  by  the  strongest  of  ties,  the  spiritual  sympathies 
fired  with  admiration  for  the  great  soul  of  Jesus,  relying 
on  his  authority,  there  grew  up,  unavoidably,  a  body 
of  men  and  women.  These  the  Apostles  call  the 
Church  of  Christ.  Religion  as  it  descends  into  practice, 
takes  a  concrete  form,  which  depends  on  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  men  who  receive  it :  hence  come  the 
rites,  dogmas,  and  ceremonies  which  mark  the  Church  of 
this  or  that  age  and  nation. 

The  Christian  Church  may  be  defined  as  a  Body  of 

'  See  in  Gieseler,  Text-Book  of  Eccles.  Hist. ;  Pliilad.  1836.  Vol. 
I  §  25-27. 

^  Math.  XVI.  18,  19.  See  the  various  opinions  of  interpreters  of 
this  passage  so  improperly  thrust  into  the  mouth  of  Jesus,  in  De 
Wette,  Exegetlsche  Handbuch  zur  N.  T.  See  Origen's  ingenious 
gloss. 


TO   BIND    AND   LOOSE.  365 

Men  and  Women  united  in  a  common  regard  for  Jesus, 
assembling  for  the  purposes  of  worship  and  religious 
insti'uction.  It  has  the  powers  delegated  by  individuals 
who  compose  it.^ 

^  See  the  various  opinions  of  the  Catholics  and  Protestants  on  this 
point  collected  in  Winer,  Comparativ  Darstellung  der  Lehrbegriffs  ; 
Leip.  1837,  §  19,  on  the  fomiation  of  the  church.  See  much  valua- 
ble matter  in  Ritschl,  Die  Entstehung  der  AltkathoUschen  Kirche ; 
Bonn,  1850.  Buch,  11. 

31* 


CHAPTER    11. 

THE   GRADUAL    FORMATION    OP   THE    CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

In  the  earliest  times  of  Christianity  there  were  no 
regular  systems  of  doctrine,  to  bind  men  together.  The 
truths  of  natural  Religion,  the  special  forms  of  Judaism, 
and  a  somewhat  indefinite  belief  in  Jesus,  were  the  car- 
dinal points  and  essentials  of  Christianity.  The  public 
religious  service  seems  perfectly  free.  Where  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  was,  there  was  liberty.  No  one  controlled 
another's  freedom.  The  much  vaunted  "  form  of  sound 
words "  was  notoriously  different  with  different  teach- 
ers. Paul,  who  came  late  to  Christianity,  boasts  that 
he  received  his  doctrine  straightway  from  God,  not  from 
those  "  who  were  apostles  before  him,"  whom  he  seems 
to  hold  in  small  esteem.  The  decision  of  the  council 
at  Jerusalem,  even  if  it  ever  took  place,  did  not  bind 
him.  The  practical  side  of  Christianity  was  developed 
more  than  the  theoretical.  The  effect  of  the  truth  pro- 
claimed with  freedom,  was  soon  manifest ;  for  the  errors 
and  superstition  still  clinging  to  the  mind  of  the  apos- 
tles could  not  chain  mankind.  Love  increased  ;  Chris- 
tianity bore  fruit ;  the  Church  spread  Vvide  its  arms.  It 
emancipated  men  from  the  yokes  of  the  ancient  sacer- 
dotal class ;  but  there  was  a  fierce  struggle  in  the  new 

[366] 


THE  EARLY  CHURCH.  367 

congregations  before  the  Jewish  forms  could  be  given 
up.  The  Christians  were  "  a  royal  priesthood ; "  all 
were  "  kings  and  priests,"  appointed  to  offer  a  "  spiritual 
sacrifice."  The  apostles  who  had  seen  Jesus,  or  under- 
stood his  doctrine,  naturally  took  the  lead  of  men  they 
sought  to  instruct.  As  the  number  of  Christians  en- 
larged, some  organization  was  needed  for  practical  pur- 
poses. The  pattern  was  taken  from  the  Jewish  Syna- 
gogue, which  claimed  no  divine  authority  ;  not  from  the 
Temple,  whose  officers  made  such  a  claim.  Hence 
there  were  elders  and  deacons.  One  of  the  elders  was 
an  overseer,  like  the  "  Speaker  "  in  a  legislative  assem- 
bly. But  all  these  were  chosen  by  the  people,  and  as 
much  of  the  people  after  their  choice  as  before.  There 
was  no  clergy  and  no  laity  ;  all  were  sons  of  God,  re- 
cipients of  inspiration  from  Him.  The  Holy  Ghost 
fell  upon  all,  the  same  in  kind,  only  divine  in  degree 
and  mode  of  manifestation.  The  wish  of  Moses  was 
complied  with,  and  God  put  his  spirit  upon  each  of 
them  ;  the  prediction  of  Joel  was  fulfilled,  and  their 
sons  and  their  daughters  prophesied  ;  the  word  of  Jere- 
miah had  come  to  pass,  and  God  put  his  Law  in  their 
inward  parts,  and  wrote  it  on  their  heart,  and  they  all 
knew  the  Lord  frofn  the  least  to  the  greatest.  They 
were  "  anointed  of  God,"  and  "  knew  all  things  ;  "  they 
"  needed  not  that  any  man  should  teach  them."  Christ 
and  God  were  in  all  holy  hearts.  The  overseer,  or 
bishop,  claimed  no  power  over  the  people  ;  he  was  only 
first  among  his  peers ;  the  greatest  only  because  the  ser- 
vant of  all.  Even  Apollos,  Cephas,  Paul,  who  w^ere 
they  but  servants,  through  whom  others  believed  ? 
The  bishop  had  no  authority  to  bind  and  loose  in 
heaven  or  earth  ;  no  right  to  enforce  a  doctrine.  He 
was  not  the  standard  of  faith  ;  that  was  "  the  Mind  of 


368  THE    EARLY    CHURCH. 

the  Lord,"  which  He  would  reveal  to  all  who  sought 
it.  There  was  no  monopoly  of  teaching  on  the  part  of 
the  elders.  A  bishop,  says  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
Timothy,  "  must  be  able  to  teach,"  not  the  only  teacher, 
not  necessarily  a  preacher  at  all ;  but  a  minister  of 
silence  as  well  as  speech.  Inspiration  was  free  to  all 
men.  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit ; "  "  prove  all  things ;  " 
"  hold  fast  what  is  good  ; "  "  covet  earnestly  the  best 
gifts,"  —  these  were  the  watchwords.  Under  Feti- 
chism,  all  could  consult  their  God,  and  be  inspired  ; 
miracles  took  place  continually.  Under  Polytheism, 
only  a  few  could  come  to  God  at  first  hand ;  they  alone 
were  inspired,  and  miracles  were  rare.  Under  Chris- 
tian Monotheism,  God  dwelt  in  all  faithful  hearts ;  old 
covenants  and  priesthoods  were  done  away,  and  so  all 
were  inspired.^ 

The  New  Testament  was  not  written,  and  the  Old 
Testament  was  but  the  shadow  of  good  things  to  come, 
and  since  they  had  come,  the  children  of  the  free 
woman  were  not  to  sit  in  the  shadow,  but  to  stand  fast 
in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  had  made  them  free. 
Man,  the  heir  of  all  things,  long  time  kept  under  task- 
masters and  governors,  had  now  come  of  age  and  taken 
possession  of  his  birthright.     The  decision  of  a  majori- 

^  On  the  state  of  the  early  Church,  and  the  Bishops,  Elders,  and 
Deacons,  which  is  still  a  matter  of  controversy,  see  Campbell,  Lec- 
tures on  Ecc.  History,  Lee.  I.-XIII.  Gieseler,  ubi  sup.  §  29.  Mo- 
sheim,  ubi  sup.  Book  I.  Art.  IL  Chap.  n.  Neander,  Allg.  Geschichte 
der  Christlichen  Religion,  Hamb.  1835,  Yol.  I.  Part  I.  Chap.  II.  Gib- 
bon, Chap.  XV.  Schleiermacher,  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Kirche ; 
Berlin,  1840,  p.  86,  et  seq.  Among  the  modern  writers  Milman  takes 
the  other  side.  History  of  Christianity  ;  Lond.  1840,  Book.  II.  Chap. 
n.  p.  63,  et  seq.  See  the  recent  works  of  Gfrorer,  Hase,  Schwegler, 
Baur,  Schliemann,  Ritschl,  Staudenmaier,  Rothensee,  Hilgenfeld, 
etc.,  —  Stanley  and  Jowett  and  Martineau. 


CANON   OF   SCRIPTURE.  369 

ty  of  delegates    assembled    in    a   council,  bound  only 
themselves. 

Then  the  body  of  men  and  women  worshipping  in 
any  one  place  was  subject  neither  to  its  own  officers, 
nor  to  the  Church  at  large  ;  nor  to  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  or  the  New  Testament.  No  man  on  earth,  no 
organization,  no  book  was  master  of  the  Soul.  Each 
Church  made  out  its  canon  of  Scripture  as  well  as  it 
could. ^  Some  of  our  canonical  writings  were  excluded, 
and  apocryphal  writings  used  in  their  stead.  Indeed, 
respecting  this  matter  of  Scripture,  there  has  never 
been  a  uniform  canon  among  all  Christians.  The 
Bible  of  the  Latin  differs  from  that  of  the  Greek  Church, 
and  contains  thirteen  books  the  more.  The  Catholic 
differs  from  the  Protestant ;  the  early  Syrians  from  their 
contemporaries  ;  the  Abyssinians  from  all  other  churches, 
it  seems.  Ebionites  would  not  receive  the  beginning 
of  Matthew  and  Luke ;  the  Marcionites  had  a  Gospel 
of  their  own.  The  Socinians,  and  perhaps  others,  left 
off  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament,^  or  counted  it 
unnecessary.  The  followers  of  Swedenborg  do  not 
find  a  spiritual  sense  in  all  the  books  of  the  canon. 
Critics  yearly  make  inroads  upon  the  canon,  striking 
out  whole  books  or  obnoxious  passages,  as  not  genuine. 
In  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  the  Bible  was  a  sub- 
ordinate thing.  In  modern  times  it  has  been  made  a 
vehicle  to  carry  any  doctrine  the  expositor  sees  fit  to 
interpret  into  it.'^     The   first  preachers  of  Christianity 

^  See  in  Eusebius,  H.  E.  III.  39,  the  use  that  Papias  makes  of  Tra- 
dition ;  he  stood  on  the  debatable  ground  between  the  Bible  and 
Tradition,  and  continued  to  mythologize.  Ewald,  Jahrbticher  for  1854, 
Ch.  XXXIII. 

^  See  Faustus  Socinus,  ubi  sup.  p.  271,  et  al. 

^  See,  on  this  point,  some  ingenious  remarks  of  Hegel,  Plulosophie 
der  Religion,  Vol.  I.  p.  29,  et  seq. 


370  CORRUPTIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

fell  back  on  the  authority  of  Jesus ;  appealed  to  the 
moral  sense  of  mankind ;  applied  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  to  life  as  well  as  they  could,  and  with  much 
.zeal,  and  some  superstition  and  many  mistakes,  devel- 
oped the  practical  side  of  Christianity  much  more  than 
its  theoretical  side. 

But  even  in  the  Apostles,  Christianity  had  lost  some- 
what of  its  simplicity,  much  of  the  practical  character 
which  marks  the  teaching  of  Jesus  in  the  Synoptics. 
The  doctrine  of  Paul  was  far  removed  from  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus.  It  was  not  plain  Religion  and  Morality 
coming  from  the  absolute  source,  and  proceeding  by  the 
absolute  method  to  the  absolute  end.  It  is  taught  on 
the  "  authority  of  Christ."  The  Jews  must  believe  he 
was  the  Messiah  of  the  prophets.  "  Salvation"  is 
connected  with  a  belief  in  his  person.  "  Neither  is 
there  salvation  by  any  other,"  says  the  author  who  takes 
the  name  of  Peter;  the  fourth  Gospel  makes  Jesus 
declare,  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me," 
"  all  that  ever  came  before  me  are  thieves  and  robbers." 
The  Jewish  doctrine  of  "Redemption"  and  reconciliation 
by  sacrifice  appears  more  or  less  in  the  genuine  works 
of  the  Apostles,  and  very  clearly  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  We  may  explain  some  of  the  obnoxious 
passages  as  "  figures  of  speech,"  referring  to  the  "  Christ 
born  in  us  ; "  but  a  fair  interpretation  leaves  it  pretty 
certain  the  writers  added  somewhat  to  the  simpler  form 
of  Jesus,  though  they  might  not  share  the  gross  doctrines 
since  often  taught  in  their  name.  Christ  is  in  some 
measure  a  mythological  being  even  with  Paul,  —  he 
was  with  the  Jews  in  the  desert,  and  assisted  at  the 
creation.  The  Jesus  of  history  fades  out  and  the 
Christ  of  fiction  takes  his  place.  The  Pharisaic  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  appears  undenia- 


CORRUPTIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  371 

bly;  a  local  heaven  and  a  day  of  judgment,  in  which 
Jesus  is  to  appear  in  person  and  judge  the  world,  are 
very  clearly  taught.  The  fourth  gospel  speaks  of  Jesus 
as  he  never  speaks  of  himself ;  the  Platonic  doctrine  of 
the  Logos  appears  therein.  We  may  separate  the 
apostolic  doctrine  into  three  classes  :  The  Judaizing, 
the  Alexandrine,  and  the  Pauline,  each  differing  more 
or  less  essentially  from  the  simple  mode  of  Religion  of 
the  Synoptics.^  Already  with  the  Apostles  Jesus  has 
become  in  part  deified,  his  personality  confounded 
with  the  infinite  God.^  Was  it  not  because  of  the 
very  vastness  and  beauty  of  soul  that  w^as  in  him  ? 
The  private  and  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians appear  in  strange  contrast  with  the  gentle  precepts 
of  love  to  man  and  God,  in  which  Jesus  sums  up  the 
essentials  of  Religion.  But,  alas,  what  is  arbitrary  and 
peculiar  in  each  form  of  worship,  is  of  little  value ;  the 
best  things  are  the  commonest,  for  no  man  can  lay  a 
new  foundation,  nor  add  to  the  old,  more  than  the  wood, 
hay,  and  stubble  of  his  own  folly.  The  great  excellence 
of  Jesus  was  in  restoring  natural  Religion  and  Morality 
to  their  true  place ;  an  excellence  which  even  the  Apos- 
tles but  poorly  understood.^ 

In  their  successors  Christianity  was  a  very  different 

^  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and  the  earlier  Apocryphal  Gospels 
and  Epistles  are  valuable  monuments  of  the  opinions  of  the  Christians 
at  the  time  they  were  written.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  circumcision 
was  rigidly  enforced  by  the  Bishops  in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  for 
more  than  a  century  after  the  death  of  Christ ;  many  of  the  laity  also 
were  circumcised.     Sulpitius  Severus,  Lib.  II. 

^  See  Dorner  and  Baur ;  also  Mass.  Quarterly  Review,  Yol.  III. 
Art.  v.,  on  the  Christologies  of  N.  T. 

'  See  the  impartial  remarks  of  Schlosser,  respecting  the  origin  and 
subsequent  fate  of  Christianity,  in  his  Geschichte  der  alten  Welt,  Vol. 
ni.  Pt.  I.  p.  249-274,  Pt.  n.  p.  110-129,  381-416. 


872  A   RITUAL   WORSHIP. 

thing,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  —  alas  a  very 
few, — it  appeared  in  the  mass  of  the  Churches,  an  idle 
mummery  ;  a  collection  of  forms  and  superstitious  rites. 
Heathenism  and  Judaism,  with  all  sorts  of  superstitious 
absurdities  in  their  train,  came  into  the  Church.  The 
first  fifteen  bishops  of  Jerusalem  clung  to  the  most 
obnoxious  feature  of  Judaism.  Christianity  was  the 
stalking-horse  of  ambition.  A  man  stepped  at  once 
from  the  camp  to  the  Bishop's  mitre,  and  brought  only 
the  piety  of  the  Roman  Legion  into  the  Church.  The 
doctrine  of  many  a  Christian  writer  was  less  pure  and 
beautiful  than  the  faith  of  Seneca  and  Cicero,  not  to 
name  Zoroaster,  Pythagoras,  and  Socrates.  After  less 
than  a  century  there  was  a  distinction  between  clergy 
and  laity.  The  former  erelong  became  "  Lords  over 
God's  heritage,"  not  "  ensamples  unto  the  flock."  They 
were  masters  of  the  doctrine ;  could  bind  and  loose  on 
earth  and  in  heaven.  The  majority  in  a  council  bound  the 
minority,  and  the  voices  of  the  clergy  determined  what 
was  "  the  mind  of  the  Lord."  Thus  the  clergy  became 
the  Church,  and  were  set  above  Reason  and  Conscience 
in  the  individual  man.  They  were  chosen  by  ♦them- 
selves, and  responsible  to  none  on  earth.  Private 
inspiration  was  reckoned  dangerous.  Freedom  of 
conscience  was  forbidden ;  he  who  denied  the  popular 
faith  was  accursed.  The  organization  of  the  Church 
was  then  copied  from  the  Jewish  temple,  not  the  syna- 
gogue. The  minister  was  a  priest,  and  stood  between 
God  and  the  people  ;  the  Bishop,  an  high-priest  after 
the  order  of  Aaron,  his  kingdom  of  this  world.  He 
was  the  "  Successor  of  the  Apostles ; "  the  Vicegerent 
of  Christ.  M,en  came  to  the  clerical  office  with  no 
Religious  qualification.^     Baptism  atoned  for   all  sins, 

^  The  histories  of  Synesius  and  Ambrose  afford  a  striking  picture 
of  the  clerical  class  in  their  time. 


NUMBEES   NO   TEST   OF   TRUTH.  373 

and  was  sometimes  put  off  till  the  last  hour,  that  the 
Christian  might  give  full  swing  to  the  flesh,  and  float 
into  heaven  at  last  on  the  lustral  waters  of  baptism. 
Bits  of  bread  from  the  "  Lord's  table,"  were  a  talisman 
to  preserve  the  faithful  from  all  dangers  by  sea  and  land. 
Prayers  were  put  up  for  the  dead ;  the  cross  was  wor- 
shipped ;  the  bones  of  the  martyrs  could  work  miracles, 
cast  out  devils,  calm  a  tempest,  and  even  raise  the  dead. 
The  Eucharist  was  forced  into  the  mouths  of  children 
before  they  could  say,  "  my  father,  and  my  mother." 
The  sign  of  the  cross  and  the  "sacred  oil"  were  power- 
ful as  Canidia's  spell.  In  point  of  toleration  the  Chris- 
tians went  backward  for  a  time,  far  behind  the  Athen- 
ians and  men  of  Rome.^  The  clergy  assumed  power 
over  Conscience  ;  power  to  admit  to  Heaven,  or  con- 
demn to  hell ;  and  not  only  decided  in  matters  of  mum- 
mery, whereof  they  made  "  divine  service  "  to  consist, 
but  decreed  what  men  should  believe  in  order  to  obtain 
eternal  life ;  an  office  the  sublimest  of  all  the  sons  of 
men,  modest  because  he  was  great,  never  took  upon 
himself  They  collected  the  writings  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  decided  what  should  be  the  "  Standard  of 
Faith,"  and  what  not.  But  their  canon  was  arbitrary, 
including  some  spurious  books  of  small  value,  and 
rejecting  others  more  edifying.  However,  they  allowed, 
some  latitude  in  the  interpretation  of  the  works  they 
had  canonized.  But  next  they  went  further,  and  devel- 
oped systematically  the  doctrines  of  the  Scripture,  on 
points  deemed  the  most  important,  such  as  the  "  nature 
of  God  "  and  Christ.  Thus  the  "  mind  of  the  Lord  "  was 
determined  and  laid  down,  so  that  he  might  read  that 

^  See  tlie  writings  of  TertuUiau  and  C}^rian,  passim,  for  proofs  of 
what  is  said  above. 

32 


374  SIN  IN  THE   CHURCH. 

ran.  The  mysticism  of  Plato,  and  the  dialectic  subtle- 
ties of  the  Stagirite  afforded  matter  for  the  pulpit  and 
councils  to  discuss. 

This  method  of  deciding  dark  questions  by  plurality 
of  votes  has  always  been  popular  in  Christendom.  In 
some  things  the  majority  are  always  right ;  in  some 
always  w^rong.  The  four  hundred  prophets  of  Baal 
have  a  "  lying  spirit "  in  them  ;  Micaiah  alone  is  in  the 
right.  The  college  of  Padua,  and  the  Sorbonne  would 
have  voted  down  Galileo  and  Newton,  a  hundred  to 
one ;  but  what  then  ?  Majority  of  voices  proves  little 
in  morals  or  mathematics.  A  single  man  in  Jerusalem 
on  a  certain  time  had  more  moral  and  religious  truth 
than  Herod  and  the  Sanhedrim.  Synods  of  Dort  and 
assemblies  of  Divines  settle  nothing  but  their  own 
opinions,  which  will  be  reversed  the  next  century,  or 
stand,  as  now,  a  snare  to  the  conscience  of  pious  men. 

In  the  early  times  of  Christianity,  the  teachers  in 
general  were  men  of  little  learning,  imbued  with  the 
prejudices  and  vain  philosophies  of  the  times ;  men 
with  passions,  some  of  them  quite  untamed,  notwith- 
standing their  pious  zeal.  In  the  first  century  no  em- 
inent man  is  reckoned  among  the  Christians.  But 
soon  doctrines,  that  played  a  great  part  in  the  heathen 
worship,  and  which  do  not  appear  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus,  were  imposed  upon  men,  on  pain  of  damnation 
in  two  worlds.  They  are  not  yet  extinct.  Rites  were 
adopted  from  the  same  source.  The  scum  of  idolatry 
covered  the  well  of  living  water.  The  Flesh  and  the 
Devil  sat  down  at  the  "  Lord's  Table  "  in  the  Christian 
Church,  and  with  forehead  unabashed,  pushed  away  the 
worthy  bidden  guest.  What  passed  for  Christianity  in 
many  churches  during  the  fourth  and  a  large  part  of 


THE  WORLD  MOVES  SLOW.  375 

the  third  century  was  a  vile  superstition.  The  image 
of  Christ  was  marred.  Men  paid  God  in  Caesar's 
pence.  The  shadows  of  great  men,  Pythagoras,  Soc- 
rates, Plato  ;  yes,  the  shades  of  humbler  men,  of  name 
unknown  to  fame,  might  have  come  up,  disquieted  like 
Samuel,  from  their  grave,  and  spit  upon  the  superstition 
of  the  Christians  defiling  Persia,  and  Athens,  and 
Rome.  It  deserved  the  mockery  it  met.  Christianity 
was  basely  corrupted  long  before  it  gained  the  Roman 
Palace.  Had  it  not  been  depraved,  when  would  it 
have  reached  king's  courts ;  in  the  time  of  Constantine, 
or  of  Louis  XIV.  ?  The  quarrels  of  the  Bishops  ;  the 
contentions  of  the  councils  ;  the  superstition  of  the  lay- 
men and  the  despotism  and  ambition  of  the  clergy  in 
general ;  the  ascetic  doctrine  taught  as  morality ;  the 
monastic  institutions  with  their  plan  of  a  divine  life,  are 
striking  signs  of  the  times,  and  contrast  wonderfully 
with  that  simple  Nazarene  and  his  lowly  obedience  to 
God  and  manly  love  of  his  brothers. 

Yet  here  and  there  were  men  who  fe-d  with  faith  and 
works  the  flame  of  piety,  which,  rising  from  their  lowly 
hearth,  streamed  up  towards  heaven,  maldng  the  shadows 
of  superstition  and  of  sin  look  strange  and  monstrous 
as  they  fell  on  many  a  rood  of  space.  These  were  the 
men  who  saved  the  Sodom  of  the  Church.  Did  Chris- 
tianity fail  ?  The  Christianity  of  Christ  is  not  one  thing 
and  human  nature  another.  It  is  human  Virtue,  hu- 
man Religion,  man  in  his  highest  moments ;  the  effect 
no  less  than  the  cause  of  human  development,  and  can 
never  fail  till  man  ceases  to  be  man.  Under  all 
this  load  of  superstition  the  heart  of  faith  still  beat. 
How  could  the  world  forget  its  old  institutions,  riot 
and  sin  in  a  moment?  It  is  not  thus  the  dull  fact  of 
the  world's  life  yields  to  the  Divine  Idea  of  a  man. 


376  POWER   OF   PERSECUTION. 

The  rites  of  the  public  worship ;  the  clerical  class  ;  the 
stress  laid  on  dogmas  and  forms ;  all  this  was  a  tribute 
to  the  indolence  and  sensuality  of  mankind.     The  as- 
ceticism, celibacy,  mortification  of  the  body,  contempt 
of  the  present  life;  the  hatred  of  all  innocent  pleasure; 
the  scorn  of  literature,  science,  and  art,  —  these  are  the 
natural  reaction  of  mankind,  who  had  been  bid  to  fill 
themselves  with  merely  sensual  delight.     The  lives  of 
Mark  Antony,  Sallust,  Crassus  ;  of  Julius  Caesar,  Nero, 
and  Domitian  explain  the  origin  of  asceticism  and  mon- 
astic retirement    better    than    folios    will    do    it.     The 
writings  of  Petronius  Arbiter,  of  Appuleius  and  Lucian, 
render   necessary   the    works    of    Tertullian,    Cyprian, 
Jerome,    and   John   of   Damascus.     Individuals  might 
come   swiftly  out  of  Egyptian   darkness  into  the  light 
of  Religion,  but  the  world  moves  slow,  and  oscillates 
from  one   extreme  to  the   opposite.^     For  a  time  the 
leaven  of  Christianity  seemed  lost  in  the  lump  of  hu- 
man sin  ;  but  it  was  doing  its  great  work  in  ways  not 
seen  by  mortal  eyes.     The  most  profound  of  all  revolu- 
tions must  require   centuries  for  its   work.     The  good 
never  dies.     The  Persecutions  directed  by  tyrannical 
emperors  against  the  new  faith,  only  heljped  the  work. 
What  is  written  in  blood  is   widely  read  and  not  soon 
forgot.     Could  the  "  holy  alliance  "  of  Ease,  Hypocrisy, 
and  Sin  put  down  Christianity,  which   proclaimed   the 
One   God,  the  equality  and  brotherhood  of  all  men  ? 
Did  Force  ever  prevail  in  the  long  ran  against  Reason 
or  Religion  ?     The  ashes   of  a  Polycarp  and  a  Justin 
sow  the  earth  for  a  Cadmean  harvest  of  heroes  of  the 

^But  see  how  reluctantly  Synesius  comes  to  the  duties  of  a 
bishop.  Ep.  105,  cited  in  Hampden,  Bampton  Lectures ;  Lond.  1837, 
p.  407,  et  seq. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   CHRIST.  377 

soul ;  a  man  leaving  wife  and  babes  and  dying  a  mar- 
tyr's death  —  this  is  an  eloquence  the  dullest  can  un- 
derstand. If  a  fire  is  to  spread  in  the  forest  let  all  the 
winds  blow  upon  it.  Even  a  bad  thing  is  not  put  down 
by  abuse.  However,  to  see  the  earnest  of  that  vast 
result  Christianity  is  destined  to  work  out  for  the 
nations,  we  must  not  look  at  king's  courts,  in  Byzan- 
tium or  Paris  ;  not  in  the  chairs  of  bishops,  noble  or 
selfish ;  not  at  the  martyr's  firmness  when  his  flesh  is 
torn  off,  for  the  unflinching  Tuscarora  surpasses  "  the 
noble  army  of  martyrs  "  in  fortitude  ;  but  in  the  com- 
mon w^alks  of  life,  its  every-day  trials ;  in  the  sweet 
charities  of  the  fireside  and  the  street ;  in  the  self-denial 
that  shares  its  loaf  with  the  distressful ;  the  honest 
heart  which  respects  others  as  itself.  Looking  deeper 
than  the  straws  of  the  surface  we  see  a  stream  of  new 
life  is  in  the  world,  and,  though  choked  with  mud,  not  to 
be  dammed  up. 

The  history  of  Christianity  reveals  the  majestic  pre- 
eminence of  its  earthly  founder.  In  him  amid  all  his 
Messianic  expectations,  there  shines  a  clear  religious 
light  —  Love  to  God,  Love  to  Man.  Come  to  the  later 
times  of  the  Apostles,  the  sky  is  overcast  with  dog- 
matic clouds,  and  doubtful  twilight  begins.  Take  an- 
other step  and  the  darkness  deepens.  Come  down  to 
Justin  Martyr,  it  is  deeper  still ;  to  Irenaeus,  Tertullian, 
Cyprian  ;  to  the  times  of  the  Council  of  Nice  ;  read 
the  letters  of  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augustine,  the  Apol- 
ogies of  Christianity,  the  fierce  bickerings  of  strong 
men  about  matters  of  no  moment,  —  we  should  think 
it  the  midnight  of  the  Christian  Church,  did  we  not 
know  that  after  this  "  woe  was  past,"  there  came  an- 
other woe ;  that  there  was  a  refuge   of  lies  remaining 

32* 


878  THE   CHEISTIANITY   OF   CHRIST. 

where  the  blackness  of  darkness  fell,  and  the  shadow  of 
death  lingered  long  and  would  not  be  lifted  up. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  the  painful  task  of  trac- 
ing the  obvious  decline  of  Christianity,  and  its  absorp- 
tion in  the  organization  of  the  Church,  which  assumed 
the  Keys  of  Heaven,  and  bound  and  tortured  men  on 
earth.  It  is  beautiful  to  see  the  free  piety  of  Paul, 
amid  all  his  dogmatic  subtleties,  —  a  man  to  whom  the 
world  owes  so  much,^  —  and  the  happy  state  of  the 
earlier  churches ;  when  no  one  controlled  another,  ex- 
cept by  Wisdom  and  Love ;  when  each  was  his  own 
priest,  with  no  middle-man  to  forestall  inspiration,  and 
stand  between  him  and  God;  when  each  could  come 
to  the  Father,  and  get  truth  at  first  hand  if  he  would. 
Jesus  would  break  every  yoke,  but  new  yokes  were  soon 
made,  and  in  his  name.  He  bade  men  pray  as  he  did ; 
with  no  mediator,  nothing  between  them  and  the  Father 
of  all ;  making  each  place  a  temple  and  each  act  a 
divine  service.  With  the  doctrines  of  his  Religion  on 
their  tongue  ;  the  example  of  Jesus  to  stimulate  and 
encourage  them  ;  the  certain  conviction  that  Truth  and 
God  were  on  their  side  ;  going  into  the  world  of  men 
sick  of  their  worn-out  rituals,  and  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing after  a  religion  they  could  confide  in,  live  and  die 
by ;  having  stout  hearts  in  their  bosoms  which  danger 
could  not  daunt,  nor  gold  bribe,  nor  contempt  shame, 
nor  death  appall,  nor  friends  seduce  —  no  wonder  the 
Apostles  prevailed !  An  earnest  man,  though  rude  as 
Bohme,  and  Bunyan,  and  Fox,  even  in  our  times,  com- 
ing in  the  name  of  Religion,  speaking  its  word  of  fire, 
and  appealing  to  what  is  deepest  and  divinest  in  our 

^  See  Parker,  ubi  sup.  p.  238,  et  seq. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  CLERGY.         379 

heart,  never  lacks  auditors.  How  the  zeal  of  the  Mor- 
mons makes  converts.  No  wonder  the  Apostles  con- 
quered the  world.  It  were  a  miracle  if  they  had  not 
put  to  flight  "  armies  of  the  aliens,"  the  makers  of 
"  silver  shrines,"  and  "  them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the 
temple."  Man  moves  man  the  world  round,  and  Re- 
ligion multiplies  itself  as  the  Banian  tree.  Men  with 
all  the  science  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  no  Re 
ligion,  can  scarce  hold  a  village  together,  while  every 
religious  fanatic,  from  Mahomet  to  Mormon,  finds  fol- 
lowers plenty  as  flowers  in  summer,  and  true  as  steel. 
Can  no  man  divine  the  cause  ? 

Blessed  was  the  Christian  Church  while  all  were 
brothers.  But  soon  as  the  Trojan  Horse  of  an  organ- 
ized priesthood  was  dragged  through  the  ruptured  wall, 
there  came  out  of  it,  stealthily,  men  cunning  as  Ulysses, 
cruel  as  Diomed,  arrogant  as  Samuel,  exclusive  and 
jealous,  armed  to  the  teeth  in  the  panoply  of  world- 
liness.  The  little  finger  of  the  Christian  priesthood 
was  found  thicker  than  the  loins  of  their  fathers  —  the 
flamens  of  Jupiter,  Quirinus,  the  Levitical  priests  of 
Jehovah.  Then  Belief  began  to  take  the  place  of  Life ; 
the  priest  of  the  man  ;  the  Church  of  home  ;  the  Flesh 
and  the  Devil  of  the  Word  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Divine  service  was  mechanism ;  Religion  priestcraft ; 
Christianity  a  thing  for  kings  to  swear  by,  and  to  help 
priests  to  wealth  and  fame.  But  a  seed  remained  that 
never  bowed  the  knee  to  the  idol.  Righteous  men, 
they  were  cursed  by  the  Church,  and  blessed  by  the  God 
of  Truth.  We  are  to  blame  no  class  of  men,  neither 
the  learned  who  were  hostile  to  Christianity,  nor  the 
priests  who  assumed  this  power  for  the  loaves  and 
fishes'  sake  ;  they  were  men,  and  did  as  others,  with 
their  light  and  temptations,  would  have  done.     Look- 


380  CHRISTIANITY   AND   THE   WORLD. 

ing  with  human  eyes,  it  is  not  possible  to  see  how  the 
evil  could  have  been  avoided.  The  wickedness  long 
intrenched  in  the  world ;  that  undercurrent  of  sin 
which  runs  through  the  nations ;  the  low  civilization  of 
the  race ;  the  selfishness  of  strong  men,  their  awful 
wars;  the  hideous  sins  of  slavery,  polygamy,  the  op- 
pression of  the  weak ;  the  power  of  lust,  brutality,  and 
every  sin,  —  these  were  obstacles  that  even  Christianity 
could  not  sweep  away  in  a  moment,  though  strongest 
of  the  historic  daughters  of  God.  Men  could  sail 
safely  for  some  years  in  the  light  of  Jesus,  though  seen 
more  and  more  dimly.  But  as  the  stream  of  time  swept 
them  further  down,  and  the  cold  shadow  from  moun- 
tains of  hoary  crime  came  over  them  anew,  they  felt 
the  darkness.  Let  us  judge  these  men  lightly.  Low 
as  the  Christian  Church  was  in  the  third,  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth  centuries,  it  yet  represented  the  best  interests 
of  mankind  as  no  other  institution.  Individuals  but 
not  societies  rose  above  it,  and  soared  away  to  the 
Heaven  of  peace,  amid  its  cry  of  excommunication. 
Let  us  give  the  Church  its  due. 

Now  as  no  institution  exists  and  claims  the  unforced 
homage  of  men  unless  it  have  some  real,  permanent 
excellence,  in  virtue  of  which  alone  it  holds  its  place, 
being  hindered,  not  helped  by  the  accidental  error, 
falsity,  and  sin,  connected  therewith ;  and  since  the 
Christian  Church  has  always  stood,  in  spite  of  its 
faults,  and  filled  such  a  place  in  human  affairs  as  no 
other  institution,  it  becomes  us  to  look  for  the  Idea 
it  represents,  knowing  there  must  be  a  great  truth  to 
stand  so  long,  extend  so  wide,  and  uphold  so  much 
that  is  false. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   FUNDAMENTAL   AND   DISTINCTIVE   IDEA   OF    THE   CHRIS- 
TIAN  CHURCH  —  DIVISION   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN   SECTS. 

All  forms  of  conscious  religion  have  this  common 
point,  an  acknowledged  sense  of  dependence  on  God, 
and  each  has  some  special  peculiarity  of  its  own,  which 
distinguishes  it  from  all  others.  Now  the  essential 
peculiarity  of  Christianity  is,  indeed,  that  moral  and 
religious  character  already  spoken  of ;  ^  but  the  formal 
and  theoretic  peculiarity,  which  contradistinguishes  it 
from  all  other  religions,  is  this  doctrine:  —  That  God 
has  made  the  highest  revelation  of  himself  to  Man 
through  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  This  doctrine — which 
does  not  proceed  from  the  absolute  character,  but  from 
the  historical  origin  of  Christianity  —  is  the  common 
gi'ound  on  which  all  Christian  sects,  the  Catholic  and 
the  Quaker,  the  Anabaptist,  the  Rationalist  and  the 
Mormon,  are  agreed.  But  as  this  is  logically  affirmed 
by  all  theoretical  Christians,  it  is  as  logically  denied  by 
all  not-theoretical  Christians.  Thus  the  Jews  and 
Mahometans,  think  their  prophets  superior  to  Jesus. 
When  we  find  a  man  who  is  a  higher  "  incarnation  of 

^  Above,  Book  JH.  Ch.  m. 

(381) 


382  IDEA    OF   THE    CHUECH. 

God  ; "  one  who  teaches  and  lives  out  more  of  Religion 
and  Morality  than  Jesus,  we  are  bound  to  admit  that 
fact,  and  then  cease  to  be  theoretical  Christians.  Men 
may  now  be  essential  and  practical  Christians,  if  they 
regard  Christianity  as  the  Absolute  Religion,  and  live  it 
out ;  or  if  they  live  the  Absolute  Religion  and  give  it 
no  name,  though  not  theoretical,  may  still  be  essential 
Christians. 

This  distinctive  doctrine  of  Christianity  appears  in 
various  forms  in  the  different  sects.  Thus  some  call 
Jesus  the  Infinite  God;  others  the  First  of  Created 
Beings  ;  others  a  Miraculous  Being  of  a  mixed  nature, 
and  hence  a  God-man,  the  identity  of  Man  and  God  ; 
others  still,  a  mortal  man,  the  most  perfect  Representa- 
tion of  Goodness  and  Religion.  These  may  all  be  re- 
garded, excepting  the  last,  as  more  or  less  mythological 
statements  of  this  distinctive  doctrine. 

Now  if  Christianity  be  taken  for  the  Absolute  Re- 
ligion, with  this  theoretical  peculiarity,  and  developed 
in  a  man,  it  has  an  influence  on  all  his  active  powers. 
It  affects  the  Mind,  he  makes  a  Theology ;  the  Con- 
science, he  lives  a  Manly  Life  ;  the  Imagination,  he 
devises  a  Symbol,  rite,  penance,  or  ceremony.  The  The- 
ology, the  Life,  and  the  Symbol,  must  depend  on  the 
natural  endowments,  and  artificial  culture  of  the  in- 
dividual Christian,  and  as  both  gifts  and  the  develop- 
ment thereof  differ  in  different  men,  it  is  plain  that 
various  sects  must  naturally  be  formed,  each  of  which, 
setting  out  from  the  first  principle  common  to  all  re- 
ligions, and  embracing  the  great  theoretical  doctrine  of 
Christianity,  which  distinguishes  it  from  all  not- Christian 
religions,  has  besides,  a  certain  peculiar  doctrine  of  its 
own  which  separates  it  from  all  other  Christian  sects. 
These   sects   are   the  necessary  forms    Religion  takes 


CHRISTIAN   PARTIES.  383 

in  connection  with  the  varying  condition  of  men.  The 
Christian  Church  as  a  whole  is  made  up  of  these  par- 
ties, all  of  whom,  taken  together,  with  their  Theologies, 
Life,  and  Symbols,  represent  the  amount  of  absolute 
Religion  which  has  been  developed  in  Christendom,  in 
the  speculative,  practical,  or  aesthetic  way.  To  under- 
stand the  Christian  Church,  therefore,  we  must  under- 
stand each  of  its  parties,  their  truth  and  error,  their 
virtue  and  vice,  and  then  form  an  appreciation  of  the 
whole  matter. 

In  making  the  estimate,  however,  we  may  neglect 
such  portions  of  the  Christian  Church  as  have  had  no 
influence  on  the  present  development  of  Christianity 
amongst  us.  Thus  we  need  not  consider  the  Greek 
and  Oriental  churches  after  the  sixth  century,  as  their 
influence  upon  the  rest  of  Christendom  ceased  to  be 
considerable,  in  consequence  of  the  superior  practical 
talents  of  the  Western  church es.^  The  remaining  por- 
tions may  be  classified  in  various  ways ;  but,  for  the 
present  purpose,  the  following  seems  the  best  arrange- 
ment, namely: 

I.  The  Catholic  Party. 

II.  The  Protestant  Party. 

III.  Those  neither  Catholics  nor  Protestants. 
These  three  will  be  treated  each  in  its  turn. 

^  See  Sermons  of  Theism,  etc.  Introduction. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


THE  CATHOLIC  PARTY. 


The  Catholic  Church  is  the  oldest,  and  in  numbers 
still  the  most  powerful  of  all  Christian  organizations. 
It  grew  as  the  Christian  spirit  extended  among  the 
ruins  of  the  old  world,  by  the  might  of  the  truth  borne 
in  its  bosom  overpowering  the  old  worship,  the  artifice 
of  priests,  the  selfishness  of  the  affluent,  the  might  of 
the  strong,  the  cherished  forms  of  a  thousand  years,  the 
impotent  armies  of  purple  kings.  It  rose  from  small 
beginnings.  No  one  knows  who  first  brought  Chris- 
tianity to  Rome  ;  nor  who  planted  the  seed  of  that 
hierarchic  power  which  soon  became  a  tree,  and  at 
length  a  whole  forest,  stretching  to  the  world's  end,  en- 
folding chapels  for  the  pious,  and  dens  for  robbers. 
The  practical  spirit  of  old  Rome  came  into  the  Church. 
Its  power  grew  as  Christian  freedom  declined.  The 
mantle  of  that  giant  genius,  which  made  the  seven- 
hilled  city  conqueror  of  the  world ;  the  belt  of  power 
which  girt  the  loins  of  her  mighty  men,  Fabius,  Reg- 
ulus,  Cicero,  Csesar,  passed  to  the  Christian  bishops,  as 
that  genius  fled  from  the  earth,  howling  over  his  crum- 
bled work.     The  spirit  of  those  ancient  heroes  came 

(384) 


GREEK  AND  LATIN  CHURCH.  385 

into  the  Church  ;  their  practical  skill  ;  their  obstinate 
endurance  ;  their  power  of  speech  with  words  like 
battles ;  their  lust  of  power ;  their  resolution  which 
nothing  could  overturn,  or  satisfy.  The  Greek  Chris- 
tians were  philosophic,  literary  ;  they  could  sling  stones 
at  a  hair's-breadth.  In  the  early  times  they  had  all  the 
advantage  of  position ;  '^  the  chairs  of  the  apostles ;  " 
the  Christian  Scriptures  written  in  their  tongue.  Theirs 
were  the  great  names  of  the  first  centuries,  Polycarp, 
Justin,  the  Clements,  Origen,  Eusebius,  Athanasius, 
Basil,  the  Gregories,  Chrysostom.  But  the  Latin 
Church  had  the  practical  skill,  the  soul  to  dare,  and  the 
arm  to  execute :  its  power  therefore  advanced  step  by 
step.  Its  chiefs  were  dexterous  men,  with  the  coolness  of 
Caesar,  and  the  zeal  of  Hannibal.  Ambrose,  Jerome, 
Augustine,  would  have  been  powerful  men  anywhere  — 
in  the  court  of  Sardanapalus,  or  a  college  of  Jesuits. 
They  brought  the  world  into  the  Church.  'T  was  the 
world's  gain,  but  the  Church's  loss/  The  emperor  soon 
learned  to  stoop  his  conquering  eagles  to  the  spiritual 
power,  which  shook  the  capital.  The  Church  held 
divided  sway  with  him.  The  spiritual  sceptre  was 
wrested  from  his  hands.  Constantine  fled  to  Byzan- 
tium as  much  to  escape  the  Latin  clergy  as  to  defend 
himself  from  the  warriors  of  the  North.^ 

Now  the  Catholic  Church,  held  to  the  first  truths  of 
Religion  and  of  Christianity,  as  before  shown.  Its  pe- 
culiar and  distinctive  doctrine  was  this,  that  God  still 
acts  upon  and  inspires  mankind,  being  in  some  measure 

^  See  the  external  causes  of  the  superiority  of  the  Roman  Church, 
in  Rehm,  Geschichte  des  Mittelalters,  Vol.  I.  p.  516,  et  seq.  Con- 
stantine established  public  worship  on  Fridays  and  Sundays  in  his 
army,  appointing  Priests  and  Deacons,  and  providing  a  Tent  for  relig- 
ious purposes  in  eveiy  Numerus,  Sozomen,  H.  K.  I.  C.  8. 

33 


386  IDEA   OF   THE   CATHOLICS. 

immanent  therein.  This  doctrine  is  broad  enough 
to  cover  the  world,  powerful  enough  to  annihilate 
the  arrogance  of  any  Church.  But  the  Roman  party 
limited  this  doctrine  by  adding,  that  God  did  not 
act  by  a  natural  law,  directly  on  the  mind  and 
conscience,  heart  and  soul  of  each  man,  who  sought 
faithfully  to  approach  Him,  but  acted  miraculously, 
through  the  organization  of  the  Church  on  its  members 
and  no  others ;  and  on  them,  not  because  they  were 
men,  but  instruments  of  the  Church  ;  not  in  proportion 
to  a  man's  gifts,  or  the  use  of  his  gifts,  but  as  he  stood 
high  or  low  in  the  Church.  The  humblest  priest  had  a 
little  inspiration,  enough  to  work  the  greatest  of  mir- 
acles ;  the  bishop  had  more ;  the  Pope,  as  head  of  the 
Church,  must  be  infallibly  inspired,  so  that  he  could 
neither  act  wrong,  think  wrong,  nor  feel  wrong. 

The  Absolute  Religion  and  Morality,  necessarily  sets 
out  from  the  absolute  source,  the  spirit  of  God  in  the 
soul  revealing  truth.  The  Catholic  Church,  on  the  con- 
trary, starts  from  a  finite  source,  the  limited  work  of 
inspired  men,  namely,  the  Traditional  Word  preserved 
in  Scripture  and  the  unscriptural  tradition,  both  writ- 
ten and  not  written.  But  then,  laying  down  this  indis- 
putable truth,  that  a  book  must  be  interpreted  by  the 
same  spirit  in  which  it  is  written,  and  therefore  that  a 
book  written  by  miraculous  and  superhuman  inspiration 
can  be  understood  only  by  men  inspired  in  a  similar 
way,  and  limiting  the  requisite  inspiration  to  itself,  it  as- 
sumed the  office  of  sole  interpreter  of  the  Scriptures  ;  re- 
fused the  Bible  to  the  laymen,  because  they,  as  uninspired, 
could  not  understand  it,  and  gave  them  only  its  own  in- 
terpretation. Thus  it  attempted  to  mediate  between 
mankind  and  the  Bible. 

Then  again,  relying  on  the  unscriptural  tradition  pre- 


THEIll   CONSISTENCY.  387 

served  in  the  Fathers,  the  Councils,  the  organization 
and  memory  of  the  Church,  it  makes  this  of  the  same 
authority  as  the  Scriptures  themselves,  and  so  claims 
divine  sanction  for  doctrines  which  are  neither  counte- 
nanced by  "  human  Reason,"  as  true,  nor  "  divine  Reve- 
lation," as  contained  in  the  Bible.  This  is  a  point  of 
great  importance,  as  it  will  presently  appear. 

Now  the  Catholic  Church  was  logically  consistent 
with  itself  in  both  these  pretensions.  Each  individual 
Church,  at  first,  received  what  Scripture  it  saw  fit,  and 
interpreted  the  Word  as  well  as  it  could.  Next  the 
synods  decreed  for  the  mass  of  Churches  both  the  canon 
of  Scripture  and  the  doctrine  it  contained.  The  Cath- 
olic Church  continued  to  exercise  these  privileges. 
Then  again,  taking  the  common  notion,  the  Church 
had  a  logical  and  speculative  basis  for  its  claim  to  in- 
spiration, though  certainly  none  in  point  of  fact.  If 
God  miraculously  inspired  Jesus  to  create  a  new  relig- 
ion, Peter,  Paul,  and  John  to  preach  it,  and  Matthew, 
Mark,  and  Luke  to  record  the  words  and  works  of  Christ 
and  of  the  Christians,  when  did  the  miraculous  inspira- 
tion cease  ?  With  the  Apostles  or  their  successors  ;  the 
direct  or  the  remote  ?  Did  it  cease  at  all  ?  It  did  not 
appear.  Besides,  how  could  the  inspired  works  be  in- 
terpreted except  by  men  continually  inspired ;  how 
could  the  Church,  founded  and  built  by  miraculous  ac- 
tion, be  preserved  by  the  ordinary  use  of  man's  powers  ? 
Were  Jude  and  James  inspired  and  Clement  and  Am- 
brose left  with  no  open  vision  ?  Such  a  conclusion 
could  not  come  from  a  comparison  of  their  works.  Did 
not  Jesus  promise  to  be  with  his  Church  to  the  end  of 
the  world  ?  Here  was  the  warrant  for  the  assumptions 
of  the  catholic  party.  So,  with  logical  consistency,  it 
claimed  a  perpetual,  miraculous,  and  exclusive  inspira- 


388  THE  church's  three  sources. 

tion,  on  just  as  good  ground  as  it  allowed  the  claim  of 
earlier  men  to  the  same  inspiration  ;  it  made  Tradition 
the  master  over  the  soul,  on  just  the  same  pretension 
that  the  Bible  is  made  the  only  certain  rule  of  faith 
and  practice.  As  the  only  interpreter  of  Scripture,  the 
exclusive  keeper  of  tradition,  as  the  vicar  of  God,  and 
alone  inspired  by  Him,  it  stood  between  man  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  Bible,  Antiquity,  and  God,  on  the  other 
side.  The  Church  was  sacred,  for  God  was  immanent 
therein  ;  the  world  profane,  deserted  of  Deity. 

The  Church  admits  three  sources  of  moral  and  relig- 
ious truth,  namely  :  — 

1.  The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
and  Apocrypha.  It  declares  these  are  good  and  wise, 
but-  ambiguous  and  obscure,  and  by  themselves  alone 
incomplete,  not  containing  the  whole  of  the  doctrine 
and  requiring  an  inspired  expositor  to  set  forth  their 
contents. 

2.  The  unscriptural  Tradition,  oral  and  written.  This 
is  needed  to  supply  what  is  left  wanting  through  the  im- 
perfection of  Scripture,  and  to  teach  the  more  recondite 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  such  as  the  Trinity,  Redemp- 
tion, the  Authority  of  the  Church,  Purgatory,  Interces- 
sion, the  use  of  Confession,  Penance,  and  the  like,  and 
also  to  explain  the  Scriptures  themselves.  •  But  tradi- 
tion also  is  imperfect,  ambiguous,  full  of  apparent  con- 
tradictions, and  impossible  for  the  laity  to  understand, 
except  through  the  inspired  class,  who  alone  could 
reconcile  its  several  parts. 

3.  The  direct  Inspiration  of  God  acting  on  the  official 
members  of  the  Church ;  that  is,  on  its  councils,  priests, 
and  above  all  on  its  infallible  head. 

The  Church  restricted  direct  inspiration  to  itself,  and 


MASTER   OF   THE   SOUL.  389 

even  within  its  walls  the  action  of  God  was  limited, 
for  if  an  individual  of  the  clerical  order  taught  what 
was  hostile  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  or  not  con- 
tained therein,  his  inspiration  was  referred  to  the  Devil, 
not  God,  and  the  man  burned,  not  canonized.  Thus 
inspiration  was  subjected  to  a  very  severe  process  of 
verification  even  within  the  Church  itself.  It  forbid 
mankind  to  trust  Reason,  Conscience,  and  the  religious 
Element;  to  approach  God  through  these,  and  get  truth 
at  first  hand,  as  Moses,  Jesus,  and  the  other  great  men  of 
antiquity  had  done.  For  this  the  layman  must  depend 
on  the  clergy,  and  the  clergyman  must  depend  on  the 
whole  Church,  represented  by  the  Fathers  or  Councils, 
and  idealized  in  its  head.  Thus  the  Church  was  the 
judge  of  the  doctrine  and  the  practice ;  invested  with 
the  Keys  of  Heaven  and  Hell ;  with  power  to  bind  and 
loose,  remit  sins,  or  retain  them,  and  authority  to  de- 
mand absolute  submission  from  the  world,  or  punish 
with  fagots  and  hell  men  who  would  not  believe  as  the 
Church  commanded.  In  this  way  it  would  control  pri- 
vate inspiration.  But  not  to  leave  the  heretics  hopeless, 
or  drive  them  to  violence,  it  assumes  the  right  to  restore 
them,  and  pardon  their  sins,  on  condition  of  submission 
and  penance.  The  Saviour,  the  Martyrs,  the  Saints, 
had  not  only  expiated  their  own  sins,  but  performed 
works  of  supererogation,  and  so  established  a  sinking- 
fund  to  liquidate  the  sins  of  the  world.  This  deposit 
was  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church,  who  could  therewith, 
aided  by  the  intercession  of  the  beatified  spirits,  pur- 
chase the  salvation  of  a  penitent  heretic,  though  his 
sins  were  as  crimson. 

The  Church  assumed  mastery  over  all  souls.  The 
individual  was  nothing ;  the  Church  was  all.  Its  power 
stood  on  a  miraculous  basis ;  its  authority  was  derived 

33* 


890  THE  CHURCH  AND  HERETICS. 

from  God.  The  humblest  priests,  in  celebrating  the 
mass,  performed  a  miracle  greater  than  all  the  wonders 
of  Jesus,  for  he  only  changed  water  into  wine,  and  fed 
five  thousand  men  with  five  loaves ;  but  the  priest,  by  a 
single  word,  changed  bread  and  wine  into  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  Almighty  God.  It  styles  itself  God's  vice- 
gerent on  earth,  and  as  Jesus  was  a  temporary  and 
partial  incarnation  of  the  deity,  so  itself  is  a  perfect 
and  eternal  incarnation  thereof  Thus  the  Christian 
Church  became  a  Theocracy.  It  was  far  more  consis- 
tent than  the  Jewish  Theocracy,  for  that  allowed  private 
inspiration,  and  therefore  was  perpetually  troubled  by 
the  race  of  prophets,  who  never  allowed  the  priests 
their  own  way,  but  cried  out  with  most  rousing  indig- 
nation against  the  Levites  and  their  followers,  and  re- 
fused to  be  put  down.  Besides,  the  Jewish  Theocracy 
limited  infallibility  to  God  and  the  Law,  which  was  to 
be  made  known  to  all,  and  though  inspired  could  be 
easily  understood  by  the  simple  son  of  Israel :  it  never 
claimed  that  for  the  Priesthood. 

Now  there  are  but  two  scales  in  the  balance  of  power: 
the  Individual  who  is  ruled  and  the  Institution  that 
governs,  here  represented  by  the  Church.  Just  as  the 
one  scale  rises,  the  other  falls.  The  spiritual  freedom 
of  the  individual  in  the  Church  is  contained  in  an  angle 
too  small  to  be  measurable.  Did  men  revolt  from  this 
iron  rule  ?  There  was  the  alternative  of  eternal  dam- 
nation, for  all  men  were  born  depraved,  exposed  to  the 
wrath  of  God ;  their  only  chance  of  avoiding  hell  was 
to  escape  through  the  doors  of  the  Church.  Thus  men 
were  morally  compelled  to  submit  for  the  sake  of  its 
"redemption."  Did  they  throw  themselves  on  the 
mercy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  penitent  for  their  disobedi- 
ence of  the  Church  ?     They  were  told  that  mercy  was 


MERITS    OF   THE   CHURCH.  391 

at  the  Church's  disposal.  Did  they  make  the  appeal  to 
Scripture,  and  say  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive ;  that  he  had  expiated  all  their  sins  ? 
The  Church  told  them  their  exegesis  of  the  passage 
was  wrong,  for  Christ  only  expiated  their  inherited  sin, 
not  the  actual  sins  they  had  committed,  and  for  which 
they  must  smart  in  hell,  atone  for  in  purgatory,  or  get 
pardoned  by  submitting  to  the  vicar  of  God,  and  going 
through  the  rites,  forms,  fasts,  and  penances  he  should 
prescribe,  and  thus  purchase  a  share  of  the  redemption 
which  Christ  and  the  saints  by  their  works  of  superero- 
gation had  provided  to  meet  the  case.  This  'doctrine 
was  taught  in  good  faith  and  in  good  faith  received.^ 

I.   The  Merits  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

As  we  look  back  upon  the  history  of  the  Church  and 
see  the  striking  unity  of  that  institution,  we  naturally 
suppose  its  chiefs  had  a  regular  plan ;  but  such  was  not 
the  fact.  The  peculiar  merit  of  the  Catholic  Church 
consists  in  its  assertion  of  the  truth,  that  God  still  in- 
spires mankind  as  much  as  ever ;  that  He  has  not  ex- 
hausted himself  in  the  creation  of  a  Moses,  or  a  Jesus, 
the  Law,  or  the  Gospel,  but  is  present  and  active  in 
spirit  as  in  space  :  admitting  this  truth,  so  deep,  so  vital 
to  the  race  —  a  truth  preserved  in  the  religions  of  Egypt, 
Greece,  and  Rome,  and  above  all  in  the  Jewish  faith  — 

^  See,  who  will,  Rehm,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  p.  541,  et  seq.,  and  Vol. 
III.  p.  1,  et  seq.,  for  the  political  aspect  of  the  Roman  church.  Gui- 
zot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilization,  etc.  Lecon  U.-VI.  X.-XII.  Hallam, 
State  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  ch.  VII.  and  the  admirably- 
candid  remarks  thereon  in  his  Supplementary  notes.  Gibbon,  ubi  sup. 
eh.  XV.  XVI.  XVIII.  XXI.  Comte,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  V.  Legon,  LIV 
LV.  who,  in  some  respects,  surpasses  all  his  predecessors. 


392  SPIRITUAL   AND   TEMPORAL   POWER. 

clothing  itself  with  all  the  authority  of  ancient  days ; 
the  word  of  God  in  its  hands,  both  tradition  and  Scrip- 
ture ;  believing  it  had  God's  infallible  and  exclusive  in- 
spiration at  its  heart,  for  such  no  doubt  was  the  real 
belief,  and  actually,  through  its  Christian  character, 
combining  in  itself  the  best  interests  of  mankind,  no 
wonder  it  prevailed.  Its  countenance  became  as  light- 
ning. It  stood  and  measured  the  earth.  It  drove  asun- 
der the  nations.  It  went  forth  in  the  mingling  tides  of 
civilized  corruption  and  barbarian  ferocity,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  people,  —  conquering  and  to  conquer;  its 
brifi^htness  as  the  lifi^ht. 

It  separated  the  spiritual  from  the  temporal  power, 
which  had  been  more  or  less  united  in  the  theocracies 
of  India,  Egypt,  and  Judea,  and  which  can  only  be 
united  to  the  lasting  detriment  of  mankind.  This  was 
a  great  merit  in  the  Church  ;  one  that  cannot  be  ap- 
preciated in  our  days,  for  we  have  not  felt  the  evil  it 
aimed  to  cure.  The  Church,  in  theory,  stood  on  a  basis 
purely  moral ;  it  rose  in  spite  of  the  State  ;  in  the  midst 
of  its  persecutions.  At  first  it  shunned  all  temporal 
affairs,  and  never  allowed  a  temporal  power  to  be  supe- 
rior to  itself.  The  department  of  political  action  be- 
longed to  the  State  ;  that  of  intellectual  and  religious 
action,  the  stablest  and  strongest  of  power, — to  the 
Church.  Hence  its  care  of  education  ;  hence  the  influ- 
ence it  exerted  on  literature.  We  read  the  letters  of 
Ambrose  and  Augustine  and  find  a  spirit  all  unknown 
to  former  times.^  Tertullian  could  oppose  the  whole 
might  of  the  State  with  his  pen.     That  fierce  African 

^  See  this  point  ably  though  briefly  treated  in  Schlosser,  ubi  sup. 
Vol.  m.  Pt.  in.  p.  102-151,  and  IV.  p.  ^5-75.  See  also  Pt.  11.  p. 
167,  et  seq. 


OBGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.         393 

did  not  hesitate  to  exhibit  the  crimes  of  the  nation. 
The  Apologetists  assume  a  tone  of  spiritual  authority 
surprising  in  that  age. 

The  Church  set  apart  a  speculative  class,  distinct 
from  all  others,  including  the  most  cultivated  men  of 
their  times.  It  provided  a  special  education  for  this  class, 
one  most  admirably  adapted,  in  many  points,  for  the 
work  they  were  to  do.  Piety  and  genius  found  here  an 
asylum,  a  school,  and  a  broad  arena.  Thus  it  had  a 
troop  of  superior  minds,  educated  and  pious  men,  who 
could  not  absorb  the  political  power,  as  the  sacerdotal 
class  of  India,  Egypt,  and  Judea  had  done  ;  who  could 
not  be  indifferent  to  the  social  and  moral  condition  of 
mankind,  as  the  priesthood  had  been  in  Greece  and 
Rome.  Theoretically,  they  were  free  from  the  despotism 
of  one,  and  the  indifference  of  the  other.  The  public 
virtue  was  their  peculiar  charge. 

Ancient  Rome  was  the  city  of  organizations,  and  prac- 
tical rules.  Nowhere  was  the  Individual  so  thoroughly 
subordinated  to  the  State.  War,  Science,  and  Lust, 
of  old  time,  had  here  incarnated  themselves.  The  same 
practical  spirit  organized  the  Church,  with  its  Dictator,  its 
Senate,  and  its  Legions.  The  discipline  of  the  clerical 
class,  their  union,  zeal,  and  commanding  skill  gave  them 
the  solidity  of  the  Phalanx,  and  the  celerity  of  the 
Legion.  The  Church  prevailed  as  much  by  its  organ- 
ization as  its  doctrine.  What  could  a  band  of  loose- 
girt  apostles,  each  warring  on  his  own  account,  avail 
against  the  refuge  of  Lies,  where  Strength  and  Sin  had 
intrenched  themselves,  and  sworn  never  to  yield  ?  An 
organized  Church  was  demanded  by  the  necessities  of 
the  time ;  an  association  of  soldiers  called  for  an  army 
of  saints.^     A  sensual  people  required  forms,  the  Church 

1  See  Guizot  und  Corate. 


394  CONVENTS   AND   MONASTERIES. 

gave  them  ;  superstitious  rites,  divination,  processions, 
images,  the  Church,  —  obdurate  as  steel  when  occasion 
demands,  but  pliant  as  molten  metal  when  yielding  is 
required  —  the  Church  allowed  all  this.  Its  form  grew 
out  of  the  wants  of  the  time  and  place. 

Was  there  no  danger  that  the  priesthood,  thus  able 
and  thus  organized,  should  become  ambitious  of  wealth 
and  power?  The  greatest  danger  that  fathers  should 
seek  to  perpetuate  authority  for  their  children.  But 
this  class  of  men,  cut  off  from  posterity  by  the  prohibi- 
tion of  marriage,  lived  in  the  midst  of  ancient  and 
feudal  institutions,  where  all  depended  on  birth  ;  where 
descent  from  a  successful  pirate,  or  some  desperate 
freebooter,  hardhanded  and  hardhearted,  who  harried 
village  after  village,  secured  a  man  elevation,  political 
power,  and  wealth;  the  clergy  were  cut  off  from  the 
most  powerful  of  all  inducements  to  accumulate  au- 
thority. In  that  long  period  from  Alaric  to  Columbus, 
when  the  Church  had  ample  revenues ;  the  most  able 
and  cultivated  men  in  her  ranks,  so  thoroughly  disci- 
plined; the  awful  power  over  the  souls  of  men,  far 
more  formidable  than  bayonets  skilfully  plied;  with  an 
acknowledged  claim  to  miraculous  inspiration  and 
divine  authority,  were  it  not  for  the  celibacy  of  the 
Christian  priesthood  —  damnable  institution,  and  preg- 
nant with  mischief  as  it  was  —  we  should  have  had  a 
sacerdotal  caste,  the  Levites  of  Christianity,  whose 
little  finger  would  have  been  thicker  than  the  loins  of 
all  former  Levites ;  who  would  have  flayed  men  with 
scorpions,  where  the  priestly  despots  of  Egypt  and 
India  only  touched  them  with  a  feather,  and  the  dawn 
of  a  better  day  must  have  been  deferred  for  thousands 
of  years.  The  world  is  managed  wiser  than  some  men 
fancy.     "  Surely  the  wrath  of  man    shall  praise  Thee, 


POWER   OF   THE    CHURCH.  395 

and  the  remainder  of  wrath  shalt  thou  restrain,"  said  an 
old  writer.  The  remedy  of  inveterate  evils  is  attended 
with  sore  pangs.  These  wretched  priests  of  the  middle 
ages  bore  a  burden,  and  did  a  service  for  us,  which  we 
are  slow  to  confess. 

The  Church,  reacting  against  the  sensuality  and  ex- 
cessive publicity  of  the  heathen  world,  in  its  establish- 
ment of  convents  and  monasteries,  opened  asylums  for 
delicate  spirits  that  could  not  bear  the  rage  of  savage 
life ;  afforded  a  hospital  for  men  sick  of  the  fever  of  the 
world,  worn-out  and  shattered  in  the  storms  of  State, 
who  craved  a  little  rest  for  charity's  sweet  sake,  before 
they  went  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and 
the  weary  are  at  rest.  Among  the  sensual  the  Saint 
is  always  an  Anchorite ;  Religion  gets  as  far  as  possi- 
ble from  the  world.^  Rude  men  require  obvious  forms 
and  sensible  shocks  to  their  roughness.  The  very  place 
where  the  Monks  prayed  and  the  Nuns  sang,  was  sacred 
from  the  ruthless  robber.  As  he  drew  near  it,  the  tiger 
was  tame  within  him ;  the  mailed  warrior  kissed  the 
ground,  and  Religion  awoke  for  the  moment  in  his 
heart.  The  fear  of  hell,  and  reverence  for  the  conse- 
crated spot,  chained  up  the  devil  for  the  time. 

Then  the  Church  had  a  most  diffusive  spirit;  it 
would  Christianize  as  fast  as  the  State  would  conquer; 
its  missionaries  were  found  in  the  courts  of  barbarian 
monarchs,  in  the  caves  and  dens  of  the  savage,  diffus- 
ing their  doctrine  and  singing  their  hymns.  Creating 
an  organization  the  mosi  perfect  the  world  ever  saw ; 
with  a  policy  wiser  than  any  monarch  had  dreamed  of, 
and  which  grew  more  perfect  with  the  silent  accretions 
of  time ;    with   address  to  allure  the  ambitious  to    its 

^  To  illustrate  this  point  see,  instar  omnium,  the  works  of  St.  Ber- 
nard. 


396  HUMANITY    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

high  places,  and  so  turn  all  their  energy  into  its  de^p 
wide  channel ;  with  mysteries  to  charm  the  philosophic, 
and  fill  the  fancy  of  the  rude ;  with  practical  doctrines 
for  earnest  workers,  and  subtle  questions,  always  skil- 
fully left  open  for  men  of  acute  discernment ;  with  rites 
and  ceremonies  that  addressed  every  sense,  rousing  the 
mind  like  a  Grecian  drama,  and  promising  a  participa- 
tion with  God  through  the  sacrament;  with  wisdom 
enough  to  bring  men  really  filled  with  Religion  into  its 
ranks ;  with  good  sense  and  good  taste  to  employ  all 
the  talent  of  the  times  in  the  music,  the  statues,  the 
painting,  the  architecture  of  the  temple,  thus  consecrat- 
ing all  the  powers  of  man  to  man's  noblest  work ;  with 
so  much  of  Christian  truth  as  the  world  in  its  wicked- 
ness could  not  forget, — no  wonder  the  Church  spread 
wide  her  influence  ;  sat  like  a  queen  among  the  nations, 
saying  to  one  GO,  and  it  went,  to  another  come,  and  it 
came. 

Then,  again,  its  character,  in  theory,  was  kindly  and 
humane.  It  softened  the  asperity  of  secular  wars ; 
forbid  them  in  its  sacred  seasons ;  established  its  Truce 
of  God,  and  gave  a  chance  for  rage  to  abate.  Against 
the  King,  it  espoused  the  cause  of  the  People.  Coming 
in  the  name  of  one  "  despised  and  rejected  of  men," 
"a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  gi-ief;"  of  a 
man  born  in  an  ox's  crib,  at  his  best  estate  not  having 
where  to  lay  his  head ;  who  died  at  the  hangman's 
hand,  but  who  was  at  last  seated  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  and  in  his  low  estate  was  deemed  God  in  humil- 
iation come  down  into  the  flesh,  to  take  its  humblest 
form,  and  show  He  was  no  respecter  of  persons, — the 
Church  did  not  fail  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  People, 
with  whom  Christianity  found  its  first  adherents,  its 
apostles,  and  defenders.     With  somewhat  in  its  worst 


HUMANITY   OF   THE    CHURCH.  397 

days  of  the  spirit  of  him  who  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many  ;  with  much  of  it  really  active  in  its  best  days 
and  its  theory  at  all  times,  the  Church  stood  up,  for 
lo-ng  ages,  the  only  bulwark  of  freedom  ;  the  last  hope 
of  man  struggling  but  sinking  as  the  whelming  waters 
of  barbarism  whirled  him  round  and  round.  It  came 
to  the  Baron,  haughty  of  soul,  and  bloody  of  hand, 
who  sat  in  his  cliff-tower,  a  hungry  giant;  who  broke 
the  poor  into  fragments,  ground  them  to  powder,  and 
spurned  them  like  dust  from  his  foot ;  it  came  between 
him  and  the  captive,  the  serf,  the  slave,  the  defenceless 
maiden,  and  stayed  the  insatiate  hand.  Its  curse 
blasted  as  lightning.  Even  in  feudal  times,  it  knew  no 
distinction  of  birth ;  all  were  "  conceived  in  sin," 
"  shapen  in  iniquity,"  alike  the  peasant  and  the  peer. 
The  distinction  of  birth,  station,  was  apparent,  not  real. 
Yet  were  all  alike  children  of  God,  who  judged  the 
heart,  and  knew  no  man's  person ;  all  heirs  of  Heaven, 
for  whom  prophets  and  apostles  had  uplifted  their 
voice  ;  yes,  for  whom  God  had  worn  this  weary,  wast- 
ing weed  of  flesh,  and'  died  a  culprit's  death.  Then 
while  nothing  but  the  accident  of  distinguished  birth, 
or  the  possession  of  animal  fierceness,  could  save  a  man 
from  the  collar  of  the  thrall,  the  Church  took  to  her 
bosom  all  who  gave  signs  of  talent  and  piety ;  sheltered 
them  in  her  monasteries ;  ordained  them  as  her  priests  ; 
welcomed  them  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter ;  and  men  who 
from  birth  would  have  been  companions  of  the  Gali- 
lean fisherman,  sat  on  the  spiritual  throne  of  the  world, 
and  governed  with  a  majesty  which  Caesar  might  envy, 
but  could  not  equal.  Priests  came  up  from  no  Leviti- 
cal  stock,  but  the  children  of  captives  and  bondmen  as 
well  as  prince  and  peer.  When  northern  barbarism 
swept  over  the  ancient  world ;  when  temple  and  tower 

34 


398  ITS   GOOD   INFLUENCE. 

went  to  the  ground,  and  the  culture  of  old  time,  its 
letters,  science,  arts,  were  borne  off  before  the  flood,  — 
the  Church  stood  up  against  the  tide  ;  shed  oil  on  its 
wildest  waves  ;  cast  the  seed  of  truth  on  its  waters, 
and  as  they  gradually  fell,  saw  the  germ  send  up  its 
shoot,  which  growing  while  men  watch  and  while  they 
sleep,  after  many  days,  bears  its  hundred-fold,  a  civiliza- 
tion better  than  the  past,  and  institutions  more  benefi- 
cent and  beautiful. 

The  influence  of  the  Church  is  perhaps  greater  than 
even  its  friends  maintain.  It  laid  its  hand  on  the  poor 
and  downtrodden  ;  they  were  raised,  fed,  and  com- 
forted. It  rejected,  with  loathing,  from  its  coffers, 
wealth  got  by  extortion  and  crime.  It  touched  the 
shackles  of  the  slave,  and  the  serf  arose  disenthralled, 
the  brother  of  the  peer.  It  annihilated  slavery,  which 
Protestant  cupidity  would  keep  forever.^  It  touched 
the  diadem  of  a  wicked  king,  and  it  became  a  crown  of 
thorns  ;  the  monarch's  sceptre  was  a  broken  reed  before 
the  crosier  of  the  Church.^     Its  rod,  like  the  wand  of 

^  See,  in  Comte,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  V.  p.  407,  et  seq.,  some  Reflections 
on  the  milder  Character  of  Slavery  in  Catholic  America,  compared 
with  Slavery  in  Protestant  Atoerica ;  and  yet  Comte  is  hardly  a  The- 
ist.  For  the  inflneiice  of  Christianity  on  Slavery,  see  the  accounts 
of  Paulinus,  Dcogratlas,  Patiens,  and  Synesius,  in  Schlosser,  Vol.  III. 
Part  III.  p.  284,  et  seq.  Gibbon,  in  his  heartless  way,  passes  over 
with  scarce  a  notice,  the  beautiful  spirit  Christianity  brought  into 
Rome,  and  its  influence  on  the  condition  of  slaves.  Hallam  makes 
but  a  one-sided  appreciation  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  it  seems  to  me 
has  not  done  justice  to  its  merits.  But  see  what  ample  amends  he 
makes  in  the  supplementary  notes.  Bp.  England,  Letters  to  Hon. 
John  Forsyth  ;.  Bait.  1844,  labors  to  show  that  the  Catholic  church  has 
been  the  uncompromising  Friend  of  Slavery.  He  certainly  makes  ou< 
a  strong  case,  tliough  not  without  a  little  snj)pression  of  the  Truth,  as 
it  seems  to  me. 

^  See  an  early  instance  of  the  collision  between  the  spiritual  and 


ITS    GOOD   INFLUENCE.  399 

Moses,  swallowed  up  all  hostile  rods.  Like  God  him- 
self, the  Church  gave,  and  took  away,  rendering  no  rea- 
son to  man  for  its  gifts  or  extortions.  It  sent  missiona- 
ries to  the  east  and  the  west,  and  carried  the  waters  of 
baptism  from  the  fountains  of  Nubia,  to  the  roaring 
Geysers  of  a  Northern  isle.  It  limited  the  power  of 
kings  ;  gave  religious  education  to  the  people,  which  no 
ancient  institution  ever  aimed  to  impart;  kept  on  its 
sacred  hearth  the  smouldering  embers  of  Greek  or  Ro- 
man thought ;  cherished  the  last  faint  sparkles  of  that 
fire  Prometheus  brought  from  Gods  more  ancient  far 
than  Jove.  It  had  ceremonies  for  the  sensual ;  confes- 
sionals for  the  pious  —  needed  and  beautiful  in  their 
time  —  labors  of  love  for  the  truehearted  ;  pictures  and 
images  to  rouse  devotion  in  the  man  of  taste  ;  temples 
whose  aspiring  turrets  and  sombre  vaults  filled  the 
kneeling  crowd  with  awe ;  it  had  doctrines  for  the 
wise  ;  rebukes  for  the  wicked  ;  prayers  for  the  reverent ; 
hopes  for  the  holy,  and  blessings  for  the  true.  It  sanc- 
tified the  babe,  newly  born  and  welcome  ;  watched  over 
marriage  with  a  jealous  eye;  fostered  good  morals; 
lelped  men,  even  by  its  symbols,  to  partake  the  divine 
aature  ;  smoothed  the  pillow  of  disease  and  death,  giv- 
ing the  Soul  wings,  as  it  were,  to  welcome  the  death- 
angel,  and  gently,  calmly,  pass  away.  It  assured  mas- 
culine piety  of  its  reward  in  Heaven  ;  told  the  weak 
and  wavering,  that  divine  beings  would  help  him,  if 
faithful.  In  the  honors  of  canonization,  it  promised 
the  most  lasting  fame  on  earth ;  generations  to  come 
should  call  the  good  man  a  blessed  saint,  and  his  name 
never  perish  while  the  Christian  year  went  round.  He- 
temporal  power  in  tlie  case  of  Ambrose,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  and  the 
Queen  Justina,  in  Fleury,  ubi  sup.  Liv,  XVIII.  Chap.  32,  et  seq. 
and  also  in  Gibbon,  Chap.  XXVII. 


400  MAIN  ERROR  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

roism  of  the  Soul  took  the  place  of  boldness  in  the 
Flesh.  It  did  not,  like  Polytheism,  deify  warriors  and 
statesmen  —  Attila,  Theodosius,  Clovis,  their  kingdom 
was  of  this  world  ;  but  it  canonized  martyrs  and  saints, 
Polycarp,  Justin,  Ambrose,  Paulinus,  Bernard  of  Clair- 
vaux.^ 

Such  were  some  of  the  excellences,  theoretical  or 
practical,  of  the  Church.  This  hasty  sketch  does  not 
allow  more  particular  notice  of  them. 

11.    The  Defects  and  Vices  of  the  Catholic  Party. 

But  the  Church  had  vices,  vast  and  awful  to  the 
thought.  As  its  distinctive  excellence  was  to  proclaim 
the  continuance  of  inspiration,  so  its  sacramental  sin 
was  in  limiting  this  inspiration  to  itself,  thus  setting 
bounds  to  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  Soul  of  Man. 
Who  shall  say  to  the  Infinite  God,  Hitherto  shalt  Thou 
come,  but  no  further ;  Thou  hast  inspired  Moses  and 
Jesus,  the  Apostles,  and  the  Church ;  well  done !  now 
rest  from  thy  work,  and  speak  no  more,  except  as  we 
prescribe  ?     The  Church  did  say  it. 

The  wondrous  mechanism  of  the  Church  and  much 
of  its  power  came  from  this  false  assumption,  that  it 
alone  had  the  Word  of  God.  So  its  organization  was 
based  on  a  lie,  and  required  new  lies  to  uphold,  and 
prophets  of  lies  to  defend  it.  Its  servants,  the  priests, 
became  proud  of  spirit.  The  only  keepers  of  Scripture 
and  Tradition  ;  the  only  recipients  of  inspiration,  they 
forbid  free  inquiry  as  of  no  use  ;  stifled  Conscience  as 

^  Canonization  among  the  Catholics  seems  to  come  from  the  same 
root  with  the  Apotheosis  of  the  Polytheists.  Both,  no  doubt,  exerted 
an  influence  on  men  who  asked  a  recompense  for  being  good  and 
religious. 


VICE   OF  THE   PRIESTHOOD.  401 

only  leading  men  into  trouble ;  and  excommunicated 
Common  Sense,  who  asked  "terrible  questions,"  calling 
for  the  title-deeds  of  the  Church.  They  went  further, 
and  forbid  the  banns  between  Reason  and  Religion  ;  and 
when  the  parties  insisted  on  the  union,  turned  them 
both  out  of  doors  with  a  curse.  The  laity  must  not  ap- 
proach God,  as  the  clergy;  must  only  commune  with 
Him  "  in  one  kind."  The  Church  forgot  God  grants 
inspiration  to  no  one  except  on  condition  he  conforms 
to  the  divine  law,  living  pure  and  true,  and  grants  it 
only  in  proportion  to  his  gifts  and  his  use  thereof :  so, 
relying  on  the  office  and  "  apostolical  succession  "  for 
inspiration,  the  priests  lived  shameless  and  wicked  lives, 
rivalling  Sardanapalus  and  Domitian  in  their  cruelty 
and  sin.  They  forgot  that  God  withholds  inspiration 
from  none  that  is  faithful ;  so  they  stoned  the  prophets 
who  rebuked  their  lies  and  published  their  sin  ;  they 
shamefully  entreated  men  whom  God  sent  of  his  errands 
to  these  unworthy  husbandmen.  They  became  spirit- 
ual tyrants,  forcing  all  men  to  utter  the  same  creed,  sub- 
mit to  the  same  rite,  reverence  the  same  symbol,  and 
be  holy  in  the  same  way. 

In  its  zeal  to  separate  the  spiritual  power  from  tem- 
poral hands  it  took  what  was  not  its  own  —  power  over 
men's  bodies ;  and  made  laws  for  the  State.^  In  its 
haste  to  give  preeminence  to  spiritual  things,  it  made 
its  offices  a  bribe,  greater  than  the  State  could  give. 
The  honor  of  sainthood  —  what  was  the  fame  of  king 
and  conqueror  to  that  ?  It  promised  the  rewards  of  high 
clerical  office,  and  even  of  canonization  to  the  most 
mercenary  and  cruel  of  men,  whose  touch  was  pollu- 
tion.    Its  list  of  saints  is  full  of  knaves  and  despots 

^  See  Hallam,  ubi  supra,  Chap.  YU, 
34* 


402  TYRANNY  OF  IHE  CHURCH. 

The  State  was  taken  into  the  Church,  —  a  refractory 
member.  The  Flesh  and  the  Devil  were  baptized , 
"  took  holy  orders ; "  governed  the  Church  in  some 
cases,  but  were  still  the  Flesh  and  the  Devil,  though 
called  by  a  Christian  name.  That  divine  man,  whose 
name  is  ploughed  into  the  world,  said.  If  a  man  smite 
the  one  cheek,  turn  the  other;  but  if  a  man  lifted  his 
hand  or  his  voice  against  the  Church,  —  it  blasted  him 
with  damnation  and  hell.  Christ  said  his  kingdom  was 
not  of  this  world  ;  so  said  the  Church  at  first,  and 
Christians  refused  to  war,  to  testify  in  the  courts,  to  ap- 
pear in  the  theatres,  and  foul  their  hands  with  the 
world's  sin.  But  soon  as  there  was  an  organized  priest- 
hood, to  defend  themselves  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
State,  to  exercise  authority  over  the  souls  of  men,  power 
on  the  earth  became  needed.  One  lie  leads  to  many. 
What  the  Church  first  took  in  self-defence  it  afterwards 
clung  to  and  increased,  and  was  so  taken  up  with 
its  earthly  kingdom,  it  quite  forgot  its  patrimony  in 
Heaven  ;  so  it  played  a  double  game,  attempting  to 
serve  God,  and  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Devil.  But 
it  was  once  said,  "  no  man  can  serve  two  masters." 
Unnatural,  spiritual  power  could  not  be  held  without 
temporal  authority  to  sustain  it;  so  the  Church  took 
fleshly  weapons  for  its  carnal  ends.  Monks  raised 
armies  ;  Bishops  led  them ;  God  was  blasphemed  by 
prayers  to  aid  bloodshed.  The  Church  sold  her  gar- 
ment to  buy  a  sword. 

The  Church  was  the  exclusive  vicar  of  God ;  she 
must  have  "  the  tonnage  and  poundage  of  all  free- 
spoken  truth."  To  accomplish  this  end  and  establish 
her  dogmas,  she  slew  men,  beginning  with  Priscillian 
and  "  the  six  Gnostics,"  in  the  fourth  century,  at  Triers, 
and  ending  no*  one    knows    where,   or  when,   or  with 


ITS    FALSEHOOD    AND    CRIME.  403 

whom.^  It  had  such  zeal  f  ">r  the  "  unity  of  the  faith," 
that  it  put  prophets  in  chains  ;  asked  the  sons  of  God 
if  they  were  "  greater  than  Jacob."  It  made  Belief 
take  the  place  of  Life.  It  absolved  men  of  their  sins, 
past,  present,  and  future.  Emancipated  the  clergy  from 
the  secular  law,  thus  giving  them  license  to  sin.  It  sold 
heaven  to  extortioners  for  a  little  gold,  and  built  St. 
Peters  with  the  spoil.  It  wrung  ill-gotten  gains  out  of 
tyrants  on  their  death-bed ;  devoured  the  houses  of 
widows  and  the  weak ;  built  its  cathedrals  out  of  the 
spoil  of  orphans,  thus  literally  giving  a  stone  when 
bread  was  asked  for,  as  St.  Bernard  honestly  called  it.^ 
It  was  greedy  of  gold  and  power,  and  at  one  time  had 
wellnigh  half  the  lands  of  England  held  in  mortmain. 
It  absolved  men  from  oaths;  broke  marriages;  told  lies; 
forged  charters  and  decretals ;  burned  the  philoso- 
phers ;  corrupted  the  classics ;  altered  the  words  of  the 
Fathers  ;  changed  the  decisions  of  the  Councils,  and 
filled  Europe  with  its  falsehood.-^  It  has  fought  the 
most  hideous   of   wars  ;  evangelized  nations  with  the 

^  See  the  story,  in  Sulpitius  Severus,  Hist.  Sac.  Lib.  II.  Ch.  50-51. 
Fleuiy,  ubi  supra,  Liv.  XVII.  Ch.  56,  57,  and  XVIIL  Ch.  29,  30. 
The  Pope,  St.  Leo,  commended  the  action,  but  Gregory  of  Tours,  and 
Ambrose  of  Milan  condemned  it,  Idacius  and  Ithacius,  the  two 
bishops  who  caused  the  execution,  were  expelled  from  their  office 
by  the  popular  indignation.  See  Jerome,  lUust.  virorum,  C.  122, 
et  seq. 

-  Dante  touchlnsilv  complains  of  the  evil  which  Constantlne  brought 
on  the  church  hy  the  gifts  tvhich  the  first  wealthy  Pope^  received  of 
him  !     Inferno.  XIX.  115,  et  seq. 

^  See  Instances  of  this  forgery  in  Hallam,  ubi  sup.  Ch.  VII.  p.  391, 
et  seq.  et  al.,  ed.  Paris  ;  Daille,  on  the  right  Use  of  the  Fathers,  etc. ; 
London,  1841,  passim.  MIddleton,  ubi  supra.  But  see,  on  the  side 
of  the  Church,  Bossuet,  Defense  de  la  Tradition  et  des  Saints 
Peres,  and  Manzoni,  Osservazioni  sulla  Morale  Cattolica  ;  Firenze, 
1835. 


404  ITS   FALSEHOOD    AND    CRIME. 

sword  ;   laid    kingdoms    under    interdict  to    gratify  its 
pride. 

The  Church  boasts  of  its  uniform  doctrine,  but  it 
changes  every  age ;  of  its  peaceful  spirit,  but  who 
fought  the  crusades,  the  wars  of  extermination  in  Swit- 
zerland, France,  the  Low  Countries  ?  To  whom  must 
we  set  down  the  ecclesiastical  butchery  that  filled 
Europe  with  funeral  piles  ?  It  quarrelled  with  the  tem 
poral  power,  and  built  up  institutions  of  tyranny  to 
suppress  truth  ;  kept  the  Bible  to  itself;  made  the  Greek 
Testament  a  prohibited  book ;  brought  dead  men's 
bones  into  the  temples,  for  the  living  to  worship,  and 
worked  lying  wonders  to  confirm  false  doctrine.  It 
loved  the  night  of  the  Dark  Ages,  and  clung  to  its  old 
dogmas. 

The  Church  came  at  length  to  be  a  colossus  of  crime 
with  a  thin  veil  of  hypocrisy  drawn  over  its  face,  and 
that  only.  The  vow  of  purity  its  children  took,  became 
a  license  for  sin.  The  corruptest  of  courts  was  the 
court  of  the  Pope.  What  reverence  had  the  Arch- 
bishops for  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  ?  Cardinal 
Bembo  bid  Sadolet  not  read  St.  Paul,  it  would  spoil 
his  taste.  In  early  ages  the  Apostles  were  the  devout- 
est  of  men;  in  later  days  their  "successors"  were 
steeped  to  the  lips  in  crime.^ 

For  centuries,  the    Church,   like   the   Berserkers    of 
northern    romance,    seemed    to    possess   the    soul    and 

^  See  Hallam,  iibi  sup.  ch.  VII.  De-Potter  loves  to  dwell  on  the 
faults  of  the  church,  for  which  there  is  sufficient  opportunity  ;  Nean- 
der,  as  much  too  lenient,  errs  on  the  other  side.  Much  information 
in  a  popular  form  may  be  found  in  M.  Roux-F errand,  Histoire  des 
Progres  de  la  Civilization  en  Europe,  6  vols.  8vo. ;  Paris,  1833-1841, 
Vol.  I.-1I.  Lecons  X.-XII.  Vol.  III.  Ch.  IV.- VI.  Vol.  IV.  Ch.  V.- 
VII.,  et  al.,  and  Mrs.  Child's  Religious  Ideas;  N.  Y.  1855,  Vols.  K 
andUI. 


DECLINE   OF   THE   CHURCH.  405 

strength  of  each  antagonist  it  slew.  But  its  hour 
btruck.  The  work  it  required  ten  centuries  to  mature, 
stood  in  its  glory  not  one.  Each  transient  institution 
has  a  truth,  or  it  would  not  be;  an  error,  or  it  would 
stand  forever.  The  truth  opens  men's  eyes  ;  they  see 
the  error  and  would  reject  it.  Then  comes  the  per- 
petual quarrel  between  the  Old  and  the  New.  "  Every 
battle  of  the  warrior,"  says  an  ancient  prophet,  "  is  with 
confused  noise,  and  garments  rolled  in  blood;"  but  the 
battle  of  the  Church  was  a  devouring  flame. 

In  the  time  of  Boniface  VIIL,  or  about  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  an  eye  that  read  the  signs  of  the 
times,  and  saw  the  cloud  and  the  star  below  the  horizon, 
could  have  foretold"  the  downfall  of  the  Church.     Its 
brightest  hour  was  in  the  day  of  Innocent  III.     A  wise 
Providence  governs  the  affairs  of  men,  and  never  suffers 
the  leaf  to  fall  till  the  swelling  bud  crowds  it  off.     Out 
of  the  ashes  of  the  old  institution  there   springs  up  a 
new  being,  soon  as  the  world  can  give  it  place.     No  in- 
stitution is  normal  and  ultimate.     It  has  but  its  day, 
and  never  lasts  too  long   nor  dies  too  soon.     Judaism 
and   Heathenism    nursed    and    swaddled    mankind    for 
Christianity,  which  came  in  the  fulness  of  time.     The 
Catholic  Church  rocked  the  cradle  of  mankind.     In  due 
season,  like  a  jealous  nurse,  assiduous  and  meddlesome, 
but  grown  ill-tempered  with  age   and  disgust  of  new 
things,  she    yields    up  with    reluctance    her   rebellious 
charge,  whose  vagaries  her  frowns  and  stripes  will  not 
restrain ;  whose    struggling   weight,  her  withered  arms 
are  impotent  to  bear ;  whose  aspiring  soul  her  anicular 
and  maudlin  wit  cannot  understand.     Her  promise  will 
not  coax ;  nor  her  baubles  bribe ;  nor  her  curses  affright 
him  more.     The  stripling  child  will  walk  alone. 

The   Protestant  "  Reformation "  came   from  the  ac- 


406  PROTESTANT   REFORMATION. 

tioii  of  Ideas  which  had  not  justice  done  them  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  just  as  the  Christian  Reformation 
from  Ideas  not  sufficiently  represented  in  Judaism  and 
Heathenism.  It  did  not,  more  than  the  other,  come  all 
at  once.  There  was  "  Lutheranism  "  before  Luther,  as 
Christianity  before  Christ.  Slowly  the  ages  prepared 
for  both,  for  each  was  a  point  in  the  development  of 
man.  The  Church  educated  men  to  see  her  faults 
gave  them  weapons  to  attack  her.  The  Reformation 
was  long  a  gathering  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church 
itself.^  Athanasius  had  his  Arius  to  contend  with. 
There  was  always  some  Paul  of  Samosata,  some 
Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  some  Peter  of  Bruis,  or  Henry 
of  Lausanne,  to  trouble  the  church.  In  the  twelfth 
century  it  took  all  the  miracles  of  Clairvaux  and  the 
leanness  of  its  Abbot,  to  put  down  the  heretics,  who 
would  come  up  again.  Was  there  not  Waldo  in 
France,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  in  the  papal  state,  John 
Huss  at  Constance,  and  WiclifF  in  England,  and  all  of 
them  at  no  great  distance  of  time  ?  Faustus  and 
Gutenberg  did  more  for  the  Reformation  than  the  Diet 
at  Worms.  Luther,  and  Zwingle,  and  Calvin,  and  the 
host  of  great  men  who  grew  in  their  shadow,  were  only 
the  heralds  that  blew  the  trumpet  of  the  Reformation  ; 
its  prize-fighters,  not  directors  of  the  movement.  It 
was  the  God  of  nations  that  moved  the  world's  heart. 
The  Spirit  only  culminated  in  Luther  and  his  friends. 
It  burned  in  holy  souls  in  Bohemia  and  Languedoc,  and 
the  valleys  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  mountains  of 
Tyrol ;   it  breathed  in   lofty   minds   at   Paris,    Saxony, 

^  Ranke  in  his  Die  romisclien  Pabste,  etc.  im  16,  und  17  .Tarhhun- 
dert,  gives  abundant  proof  of  this  reformatory  movement  in  the 
church  itself  See  particularly  Vol.  I.  B.  11.,  but  the  tale  of  eccle- 
siastical crime  is  even  more  distinctly  told. 


THE   REFORMATION.  407 

Padua,  London,  Rome  itself.  Every  learned  Greek 
the  Turks  frighted  from  Constantinople,  or  Italian 
wealth  lured  to  the  queen  of  cities  ;  every  manuscript 
of  the  Classics,  the  Fathers,  the  Councils,  the  Scrip- 
tures which  found  deliverance  from  the  moles  and  the 
bats;  every  improvement  in  law,  science, and  art;  every 
discovery  in  Alchemy  or  Astrology ;  every  invention 
from  the  mariner's  compass  to  monk  Schwartz's  gun 
powder,  was  an  agent  of  the  Reformation.  We  find 
Reformers,  from  the  time  of  Marcion  to  John  Wessel. 
Some  tried,  as  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  to  put  new  wine  in 
old  bottles,  but  losing  both,  looked  round  for  new  things. 
That  long  train  of  Mystics,  from  Dionysius  the  Are- 
opagite,  to  Meister  Eckart  of  Strassburg,  prepared  for 
the  work  which  Luther  built  up  with  manly  shouting. 

To  sum  up  the  claim  of  this  party;  the  catholic 
Church  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  God  inspires 
that  Church,  miraculously  and  exclusively.  This  as- 
sumption is  false.  Though  the  oldest  organization  in 
the  world,  it  has  no  right  over  the  soul  of  man.^ 

^  See,  who  will,  the  Roman  doctrine  thoroughly  attacked  in  the 
ponderous  folio  of  Joh.  Gerhard,  Confessio  Catholica,  etc.,  etc. ;  Frank- 
fort, 1679  ;  and  the  superficial  and  somewhat  one-sided  Essay  of  M. 
Bouvet,  Du  Catholicisme,  du  Protestantisme,  et  de  la  Philosophic  en 
France ;  Paris,  1840.  But  see  the  attack  of  Simmichius  on  Protes- 
tantism, Confessionistarum  Goliathismus  profligatus,  etc.,  etc.  ;  Lou- 
van,  1667.  Many  of  the  most  imjDortant  claims  of  the  catholic  church, 
that  of  Supremacy  in  temporal  affairs,  Infallibihty  in  spiritual  mat- 
ters, and  the  Right  to  enforce  doctrines,  are  abandoned  by  an  able 
Catholic  writer,  J.  H.  Von  Wessenberg,  the  late  bishop  of  Constance. 
See  his  Die  grossen  Kirchenversammlungen  des  15ten  und  16ten 
Jarhhundert ;  Const.  1840,  4  vol.  8vo. 


CHAPTER    V. 


THE   PROTESTANT    PARTY. 


The  distinctive  idea  of  Protestantism  is  this:  the 
canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
are  the  direct  Word  of  God,  and  therefore  the  only  In- 
fallible Rule  of  religious  Faith  and  Practice.  It  logi- 
cally denied  that  an  inspired  man  was  needed  to  stand 
between  mankind  and  the  inspired  Word.  Each  man 
must  consult  the  Scriptures  for  himself;  expound  them 
for  himself,  by  the  common  rules  of  grammar,  logic, 
and  rhetoric.  Each  man,  therefore,  must  have  freedom 
of  conscience  up  to  this  point,  but  no  further.  God  was 
immanent  in  the  Scriptures ;  not  in  the  Church.  The 
ecclesiastical  tradition  was  no  better  than  other  tradi- 
tion. It  might,  or  it  might  not,  be  true.  The  Catholic 
Church  had  no  miraculous  inspiration. 

Now  it  was  a  great  step  for  the  human  race,  to  make 
this  assertion  in  the  sixteenth  century  ;  it  demanded  no 
little  manhood  to  do  so  at  that  time.  Where  were  the 
men  who  had  made  it  in  the  sixth,  and  all  subsequent 
centuries  ?  Their  bones  and  their  disgrace  paved  the 
highway  on  which  Luther  walked  as  a  giant  to  a  fame 
world-wide  and  abiding.  At  first  the  work  of  the  Prot- 
estants, like  that  of  all  Reformers,  was  negative,  expos- 

(408) 


MERIT    OF   PROTESTANTISM.  409 

itig  the  errors  and  sins  of  the  Catholic  party  ;  clearing 
the  spot  on  which  to  erect  their  Church  ;  fighting  with 
words  and  blows.  In  the  war  of  the  giants,  sore 
strokes  must  be  laid  on.  The  ground  shook  and  the 
sky  rang  with  the  quarrel.  "  God  will  see,"  said  stout 
Martin,  ^'  which  gives  out  first,  the  Pope  or  Luther." 
The  Church  thundered  and  lightened  from  the  seven- 
hilled  city  looking  with  a  frown  towards  Saxony.  Lu- 
ther gave  back  thunder  for  thunder,  scorn  for  scorn.  Did 
the  Church  condemn  Luther?  He  paid  it  back  in  the 
same  pence.  The  Church  says,  "  Luther  is  a  heretic, 
and  should  be  burned  had  we  skill  to  catch  him."  Lu- 
ther declares  "  the  Pope  is  a  wolf  possessed  with  the 
devil,  and  we  ought  to  raise  the  hue  and  cry,  and  tear 
him  to  pieces  without  judge  or  jury." 

I.    The  Merit  of  Protestantism, 

Its  merit  as  a  Reformation  was  both  negative  and 
positive.  It  was  right  in  declaring  the  Roman  Church, 
with  its  clergy,  cardinals,  councils,  popes,  no  more 
inspired  than  other  men,  and  therefore  no  more  fit  than 
others  to  keep  Tradition,  expound  Scripture,  and  hold 
the  keys  of  Heaven  ;  nay,  more,  that  by  reason  of  their 
prejudice,  ignorance,  sloth,  ambition,  crime,  and  sin  in 
general,  they  had  less  inspiration,  for  they  had  grieved 
away  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  was  right  in  denying  the 
authority  of  the  Church  in  temporal  matters ;  in  declar- 
ing that  its  tradition  was  no  better  than  other  tradition, 
nay,  was  even  less  valuable,  for  the  Church  had  told 
lies  in  the  premises,  and  the  fact  was  undeniable.  The 
Protestants  justified  their  words  in  this  matter  by 
exposing  the  weak  points  of  the  Church,  its  lies,  false 
doctrines,    and   wicked     practices ;    its    arrogance    and 

35 


410  DEFECTS    OF   PROTESTANTISM. 

worldly  ambition  ;  the  disagreement  of  the  popes  ;  the 
contradictions  of  the  councils  and  fathers,  and  the 
crimes  of  the  clergy,  who  make  up  the  Church.  It  was 
right  in  examining  the  canon  of  Scripture,  casting  off 
what  was  apocryphal,  or  spurious;  in  demanding  that 
the  laity  should  have  the  Bible  and  the  Sacraments  in 
full,  and  claim  the  right  to  interpret  Scripture,  reject 
tradition,  relics,  saints,  and  have  nothing  between  them 
and  Christ  or  God.  It  was  right  in  demanding  free- 
dom of  conscience  for  all  men,  up  to  the  point  of 
accepting  the  Scriptures.^  This  was  no  vulgar  merit, 
but  one  we  little  appreciate.  The  men  who  fight  the 
battle  for  all  souls,  rarely  get  justice  from  the  world. 


II.    The  Vice  and  Defect  of  Protestantism, 

Its  capital  vice  was  to  limit  the  power  of  private 
inspiration,  and,  since  there  must  be  somewhere  a 
standard  external  or  within  us,  to  make  the  Bible  Mas- 
ter of  the  Soul.  Theoretically,  it  narrowed  the  sources 
of  religious  truth,  and  instead  of  three,  as  the  Catholics, 
it  gave  us  but  one  ;  though  practically  it  did  more  than 
the  Catholics,  for  it  brought  men  directly  to  one  foun- 

^  It  is  not  necessary  to  cite  the  proofs  of  the  above  statements  from 
the  Reformers,  as  they  may  be  seen  in  the  dogmatical  writers  so  often 
referred  to  before.  However,  the  most  significant  passages  may  be 
found  collected  in  Harles,  Theologische  Encyclopadie  und  Methodolo- 
gie ;  Leips.  1837,  Chap.  III.  IV.  The  early  Reformers  differ  in 
opinion  as  to  the  authority  of  the  Bible.  It  is  well  known  with  what 
freedom  and  contempt  Luther  liimself  spoke  of  parts  of  the  canon, 
and  the  stories  of  miracles  in  the  Gospels  and  Pentateuch.  But  his 
own  opinion  fluctuated  on  this  as  on  many  other  points.  He  cared 
little  for  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke.  Indeed,  it  would  not  require  a 
very  perverse  ingenuity  to  make  out,  from  the  Reformers,  a  Sirauss- 
ianismus  ante  Strausslum. 


DEFECTS    OF   PROTESTANTISM.  411 

tain  of  truth.i  Now  if  the  Catholic  had  an  undue 
reverence  for  the  organized  Church,  so  had  the  Protes- 
tant for  the  Scriptures.  Both  sought  in  the  world  of 
concrete  things  an  infallible  source  and  standard  of 
moral  and  religious  truth.  There  is  none  such  out  of 
human  consciousness ;  neither  in  the  Church,  nor  the 
Bible.  Both  must  be  idealized  to  support  this  preten- 
sion. Accordingly  as  the  one  party  idealized  the 
Church :  assumed  its  divine  Origin,  its  Infallibility, 
and  the  exclusive  Immanence  of  God  therein  ;  so  the 
other  assumed  the  divine  origin  of  the  Scriptures,  their 
Infallibility,  and  the  exclusive  Immanence  of  God  in 
them.  Has  either  party  proved  its  point  ?  Neither  is 
capable  of  proof.  As  the  Catholic  maintained,  in  the 
very  teeth  of  notorious  facts,  that  there  \Vas  no  contra- 
diction in  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  its  popes  and 
councils,  and  more  eminent  Fathers  ;  in  the  very  face 
of  Reason,  that  all  its  doctrines  were  true  and  divine  ; 
so  did  the  Protestant,  in  the  teeth  of  facts  equally 
notorious,  deny  there  was  any  contradiction  in  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible,  its  prophets,  evangelists,  apostles  ; 
in  the  very  face  of  Reason,  declared  that  every  word  of 
Scripture  was  the  word  of  God,  and  eternally  true! 
Nay,  more,  the  Protestants  maintained  that  the  record 
of  Scripture  was  so  sacred,  that  a  divine  Providence 
watched  over  it  and  kept  all  errors  from  the  manuscript. 
What  a  cry  the  Protestants  made  about  the  "  various 
readings."      Could    Cappellus    get    his    book    on    the 

^  This  is,  logically  speaking,  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Re- 
formers, though  quaUfications  of  it  may  be  found  in  Luther,  Melanch- 
thon,  Zwingle,  and  Calvin,  which  detract  much  from  its  scientific 
rigor.  But  still  the  principle  was  laid  down  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Protestant  fabric,  and  is  yet  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  rock  of  oflfence 
to  free  men. 


412  PROTESTANTISM   AND    THE   BIBLE. 

textual  variations  of  the  Old  Testament  printed  under 
Protestant  favor?  A  perpetual  miracle,  said  Prot- 
estantism, kept  the  text  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
New  Testament  from  the  smallest  accident.  But  that 
doctrine  would  not  stand  against  the  noble  army  of 
various  readings  —  thirty  thousand  strong. 

"  Where  there  is  no  vision,  the  people  perish."  The 
Protestants,  denying  there  was  inspiration  now  as  in 
Paul's  time,  yet  knowing  they  must  have  religious 
truth  or  the  Word  of  God,  clung  like  dying  men  to  the 
letter  of  the  Bible,  as  their  only  hope.  The  words  of 
the  Bible  had  but  one  meaning,  not  many;  that  was  to 
be  got  at  by  the  usual  methods  —  pious  and  honest 
study*  of  the  grammatical,  logical,  rhetorical  sense 
thereof^  With  its  word,  man  must  stop,  for  he  has 
reached  the  fountainhead.  But  has  the  word  of  God 
become  a  letter ;  is  all  truth  in  the  Bible,  and  is  no 
error,  no  contradiction  therein  ?  Was  the  doctrine  once 
revealed  to  the  saints,  revealed  once  for  all  ?  Is  the 
Bible  a  Finality,  and  man  only  provisional  ?  So  said 
Protestantism.  This  was  its  vice.  But  God  has  set 
one  thing  against  another,  so  that  all  work  together  for 
good.  It  was  a  great  step  to  get  back  to  the  Bible, 
and  freedom  of  conscience,  and  good  sense  in  its  expo- 
sition. 

Protestantism  wrought  wonders,  and  overthrew  the 
magicians   in   the   Egypt  of   the   Church.     It  saw  the 

^  Chemnitz,  Loci  communes,  Pt.  lU.  p.  235,  et  al.  denounces  the 
doctrine  of  the  church,  that  the  Bible  was  "imperfect,  insufficient, 
ambiguous,  and  obscure."  Luther  and  Melanchthon  condemn  the  old 
practice  of  allegorizing  Scripture.  See  the  passages  collected  in 
Harles,  ubi  sup.  p.  133,  et  seq.  and  the  dogmatical  writei's  above 
referred  to,  Strauss,  Glaubenslehre,  §  12,  13,  Seckendorf,  De  Luther- 
anismo,  etc. ;  ed.  1688,  p.  10,  38,  130,  74.  But  on  the  other  side,  see 
Gazzaniga,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  I.  p.  171,  et  seq. 


PROTESTANTISM   NOT   FINAL.  413 

ecclesiastical  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the  Red  Sea, 
with  destruction  opening  its  hungry  jaws  to  devour 
them.  But  it  had  a  mixed  multitude  in  its  own  train, 
and  left  the  people  in  the  wilderness,  wandering  like  the 
Gibeonites,  with  no  power  to  get  bread  from  Heaven, 
or  water  from  the  living  rock.  Its  Jethros  were  philolo- 
gists who  knew  nothing  of  the  spiritual  land  of  hills 
and  brooks,  and  milk  and  honey.  Its  leaders  —  men 
noble  as  Moses,  men  of  vast  soul,  and  Herculean 
power  to  do  and  suffer,  to  speak  and  be  silent  —  had  a 
Pisgah  view  of  the  land  of  promise,  and  wished  God 
would  put  his  spirit  on  all  the  people ;  but  they  died 
and  gave  no  sign.  The  nations  are  still  wandering  in 
the  desert ;  carrying  the  Sanctuary,  the  Ark,  the  Table 
of  the  Law ;  sometimes  sighing  after  the  leeks  and 
garlics  left  behind ;  now  and  then  worshipping  a  calf 
of  gold,  of  parchment,  or  spoken  wind ;  murmuring 
and  rebellious  ;  with  here  and  there  a  Korah,  Dathan, 
and  Abiram  rising  up  in  their  ranks,  clouds  enough,  but 
with  no  Moses  nor  Pillar  of  Fire.  Still,  God  be  praised, 
we  are  no  longer  slaves  under  the  iron  bondage  of  the 
Church.  They  were  men  who  dared  to  come  out, 
those  heroes  of  the  Reformation.  This  Protest  against 
the  Roman  Church,  was  one  of  the  noblest  the  world 
ever  saw  ;  perhaps  never  surpassed  but  once,  and  then 
by  a  single  soul,  big  as  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever. 
Stout-hearted  Martin  Luther,  with  his  face  rugged, 
homely,  and  honest,  with  a  soul  of  fire,  and  words  like 
cannon-shot,  a  heart  that  feared  neither  Pope  nor  Devil, 
and  a  living  faith  which  sang  in  his  dungeon  :  — "  The 
Lord  our  God  is  a  castle  strong,"  —  the  greatest  of  the 
prophets  and  the  "  chiefest  of  apostles,"  seems  little  to 
him.  We  may  thank  God  and  take  courage,  remem- 
bering that  such  men  have  been,  and  may  be.     There  is 

35* 


414  GREATNESS    OF   SPIRITUAL   REFORMERS. 

no  tyranny  like  the  spiritual  —  that  of  soul  over  soul, 
no  heroism  like  that  which  breaks  the  bonds  of  such 
tyranny.  You  shall  find  men  thick  as  acorns  in  autumn, 
who  will  wade  neck-deep  in  blood,  and  charge  up  to 
the  cannon's  mouth,  when  it  rains  shot  as  snow-flakes 
at  Christmas.  Such  men  may  be  had  for  red  coats  and 
dollars,  and  "fame."  It  requires  only  vulgar  bravery 
for  that,  and  men  who  are  "  food  for  powder."  But  to 
oppose  the  institution  which  your  fathers  loved  in 
centuries  gone  by  ;  to  sweep  oH'  the  altars,  forms,  and 
usages  that  ministered  to  your  mother's  piety,  helped 
her  bear  the  bitter  ills  and  cross  of  life,  and  gave  her 
winged  tranquillity  in  the  hour  of  death  ;  to  sunder 
your  ties  of  social  sympathy ;  destroy  the  rites  asso- 
ciated with  the  aspiring  dream  of  childhood,  and  its 
earliest  prayer,  and  the  sunny  days  of  youth  — to  dis- 
turb these  because  thev  weave  chains,  invisible  but 
despotic,  which  bind  the  arm  and  fetter  the  foot,  and 
confine  the  heart;  to  hew  down  the  hoary  tree  under 
whose  shadow  the  nations  played  their  game  of  life, 
and  found  in  death  the  clod  of  the  valley  sweet  to  their 
weary  bosom, — to  destroy  all  this  because  it  poisons 
the  air  and  stifles  the  breath  of  the  world  —  it  is  a  sad 
and  a  bitter  thing ;  it  makes  the  heart  throb,  and  the 
face,  that  is  hard  as  iron  all  over  in  public,  weeps  in 
private,  weak  woman's  tears  it  may  be.  Such  trials 
are  not  for  vulgar  souls  ;  they  feel  not  the  riddle  of  the 
world.  The  vulgar  Church  —  it  will  do  for  them,  for  it 
bakes  bread,  and  brews  beer.  Would  you  more  ?  No. 
That  is  enough  for  blind  mouths.  Duty,  Freedom, 
Truth,  a  divine  Life,  what  are  they  ?  Trifles  no  doubt 
to  monk  Tetzel,  the  Leos  and  the  Bembos,  and  other 
sleek  persons,  new  and  old.  But  to  a  heart  that  swells 
with  Religion,  like  the  Atlantic,  pressed   by  the  wings 


THE    SYMBOLICAL   BOOKS.  415 

of  the  storm,  they  are  the  real  things  of  God,  for  which 
all  poor  temporalities  of  fame,  ease  and  life  are  to  be 
cast  to  the  winds.  It  is  needful  that  a  man  be  true  ; 
not  that  he  live.  Are  men  dogs,  that  they  must  be 
happy?     Luther  dared  to  be  undone. 

The  sacramental  error  of  Protestantism  in  restricting 
private  judgment  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  was  in 
part  neutralized  by  admitting  freedom  of  individual 
conscience,  and  therefore  the  right  and  the  duty  to  in- 
terpret the  Bible.  Here  it  allowed  great  latitude. 
Each  man  might  determine  by  historical  evidence  his 
own  canon  of  Scripture,  in  some  measure,  and  devise 
his  own  method  of  interpretation.  Yet  the  old  spirit 
of  the  Church  was  still  there,  to  watch  over  the  ex- 
egesis. The  Bible  was  found  very  elastic,  and  there- 
fore hedges  were  soon  set  about  it,  in  the  shape  of  sym- 
bolical books,  creeds,  thirty-nine  articles,  catechisms, 
and  confessions  of  faith,  which  cooped  up  the  soul  in 
na.rrower  limits.  But  these  formularies,  like  the  Scrip- 
tures, were  found  also  indefinite,  and  would  hold  the 
most  opposite  doctrines,  for  though  the  schoolmen 
doubted"  whether  two  similar  spirits  could  occupy  at 
once  the  same  point  of  space,  it  is  put  beyond  a  doubt 
that  two  very  dissimilar  doctrines  may  occupy  the  same 
words,  at  the  same  time.  Taking  "  substance  for 
doctrine,"  any  creed  may  be  subscribed  to,  and  a  solemn 
ecclesiastical  farce  continue  to  be  enacted,  as  edifying 
if  not  so  entertaining  as  the  old  Miracle-plays.  .  That 
was  popular  advice  for  theologians  which  the  old  Jesuit 
gave  :  "  Let  us  fix  our  own  meaning  to  the  words,  and 
then  subscribe  them."  The  maxim  is  still  "  as  good  as 
new." 

This  new  and  exclusive  reverence  for  the  Bible  led  to 


41()  INTERPRETATION    OF  THE   BIBLE. 

popular  versions  of  it ;  to  a  hard  study  of  its  original 
tongues  ;  and  a  most  diligent  examination  of  all  the 
means  of  interpreting  its  words.  Here  a  wide  field  was 
opened  for  critical  study,  which  even  yet  has  not  been 
thoroughly  explored.  A  host  of  theological  scholars 
sprang  up,  armed  to  the  teeth  with  Greek  and  "  the 
terrible  Hebrew,"  and  attended  by  a  Babylonian  legion 
of  oriental  tongues  and  rabbinical  studies, —  scholars 
who  had  no  peers  in  the  Church,  at  least,  since  the 
time  of  Jerome,  who  translated,  so  he  says,  the  book  of 
Tobit  from  the  Chaldaic  in  a  day !  But  this  study  led 
to  extravagance.  Sound  principles  of  interpretation 
were  advanced  by  some  of  the  Reformers,  but  they 
were  soon  abandoned.  Thus,  to  take  a  single  example: 
Luther,  Zwingle,  and  Melanchthon  said,  A  passage  of 
Scripture  can  have  but  one  meaning.^  It  is  unques- 
tionably true.  But  certain  doctrines  must  be  main- 
tained, and  defended  by  Scripture ;  therefore  if  this 
could  not  be  done  by  the  natural  meaning  of  Scripture, 
a  secondary  sense  or  a  type  must  be  sought.  Of  course 
it  was  found.  The  old  allegorical  way  of  interpreta- 
tion was  bad,  but  this  typical  improvement  and  doctrine 
of  secondary  senses  was  decidedly  worse.^  In  the 
hands  of  both  Protestant  and  Catholic  interpreters,  the 
Bible  is  clay,  to  be  turned  into  any  piece  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal pottery  the  case  may  require ;  persecuted  in  one 
sense  they  flee  into  another.  It  is  a  very  Proteus,  and 
takes  all  forms  at  pleasure.  Now  it  is  a  river  placid  as 
starlight,  then  a  lion   roaring  for  his  prey.     Job  went 

'  Luther  himself  did  not  ahvays  adhere  to  this  rule  in  explaining 
the  Old  Testament. 

^  See  Strauss,  Lehen  Jesu,  §  3-4.  Palfrey,  ubi  sup.  Vol.  II.  Lect. 
XXXin.  Rosenmiiller,  Handbuch  fur  Literatur  der  hib.  Kritik,  etc. 
Vol.  IV.  p.  1,  et  seq. 


INTERPRETATION    OF   THE    BIBLE.  417 

through  some  troubles  in  his  life,  as  the  poem  re- 
lates ;  but  even  death  has  not  placed  him  where  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest, 
Professors  and  critics  have  handled  him  more  sorely 
than  Satan,  his  friends,  or  his  wife.  They  have  made 
him  "  sin  with  his  lips  ; "  his  saddest  disease  he  has 
caught  at  their  hands ;  his  greatest  calamity  was  his 
exposition.  "  Oh  that  mine  adversary  had  written  a 
book,'-  said  the  patient  man.  Did  he  wish  to  explain 
it  ?  Then  is  he  rightly  treated,  for  the  explainers  have 
ploughed  upon  his  back  ;  they  made  long  their  furrows. 
Moses,  says  the  Hebrew  Scripture,  was  the  most  tor- 
mented of  all  the  earth,  but  his  trials  in  the  wilderness 
were  nothing  to  his  sufferings  on  the  rack  of  exegesis^ 
The  Critics  and  Truth  have  disputed  over  him  as  the 
Devil  and  Michael,  but  not  without  railing.  The 
prophets  had  a  hard  time  of  it  in  their  day  and  genera- 
tion ;  but  Jeremiah  was  put  into  his  darkest  dungeon 
by  Christian  scholars ;  Isaiah  was  never  so  painfully 
sawn  asunder  as  by  the  interpreters,  to  whom  facts  are 
as  no  facts,  and  one  day  as  a  thousand  years,  in  their 
chronology.  Jonah  and  Daniel  were  never  in  such  fatal 
jeopardy  as  at  the  present  day.  A  choleric  man  in  the 
Psalms  could  not  curse  his  foes,  but  he  uttered  male- 
dictions against  "the  enemies  of  the  Church;"  nor 
speak  of  recovering  from  illness,  but  "  he  predicts  an 
event  which  took  place  a  thousand  years  later."  A 
young  Hebrew  could  not  write  an  Anacreontic,  but  he 
spoke  "of  the  Church  and  Christ."  Nay,  Daniel, 
Paul,  and  John  must  predict  the  "  abomination  of 
Rome  ; "  all  the  great  events  as  they  take  place,  and 
even  the  end  of  the  world,  in  the  day  some  fanatical 
interpreter  happens  to  live.  Is  the  Bible  the  Protestant 
standard  of  faith  ?     Then  it  is  more  uncertain  than  the 


418  DIVISIONS    AMONG    PROTESTANTS. 

things  to  be  measured.  The  cloud  in  Hamlet  is 
not  more  variable  than  the  "infallible  rule"  in  the 
hands  of  the  interpreters.  The  best  things  are  ca- 
pable of  the  worst  abuse.  Alas,  when  shall  Science 
and  Religion  have  their  place  with  the  sons  of 
men  ? 

Now  since  Protestantism  denied  the  Immanence  of 
God  in  the  Church,  as  such,  and  flouted  the  claim  to 
inspiration  when  made  by  any  modern,  it  is  plain  there 
could  be  no  one  Authoritative  Church  ;  all  qualitatively 
were  equal,  resting  on  the  same  foundation.  Then 
admitting  freedom  of  judgment,  within  the  limits  of  the 
Bible,  and  great  latitude  in  expounding  that;  not  very 
often  burning  men  for  heresy,  —  though  cases  enough 
in  point  might  easily  be  cited,  —  and  encouraging  great 
activity  of  mind,  it  led  to  diversity  of  opinions,  senti- 
ments, and  practice.  This  began  in  the  Reformers 
themselves.  Religion  took  different  shapes  in  Ulrich 
von  Hutten  and  John  Calvin.  Men  obeyed  their 
natural  affinities,  and  grouped  themselves  into  sects, 
each  of  which  recognizing  the  great  principle  of  all  Re- 
ligion ;  the  special  doctrine  of  Christianity;  the  peculiar 
dogma  of  Protestantism,  has  also  some  distinctive  tenet 
of  its  own.  Soon  as  the  outward  pressure  of  Papal 
hostility  was  somewhat  lightened,  these  conflicting 
elements  separated  into  several  Churches.  Now  neg- 
lecting those,  with  which  we  in  New  England  have 
little  to  do,  the  rest  may  be  divided  into  two  parties, 
namely  :  — 

I.  Those  who  set  out  from  the  idea  that  God  is  a 
Sovereign. 

II.  Those  who  set  out  from  the  idea  that  God  is  a 
Father. 


PARTY   THAT   FEARS   GOD.  419 

The  theology  and  ethics,  the  virtue  and  vice  of  each, 
require  a  few  words. 

I.    The  Party  that  sets  out  from  the  Sovereignty  of  God. 

This  party  takes  the  supernatural  view  before  pointed 
out.  It  makes  God  an  awful  king.  The  universe 
shudders  at  his  presence.  The  thunder  and  earthquake 
are  but  faint  whispers  of  his  wrath,  as  the  magnificence 
of  earth  and  sky  is  but  one  ray  out  from  the  heaven  of 
his  glory.  He  sits  in  awful  state.  Human  flesh  quails 
at  the  thought  of  Him.  It  is  terrible  to  fall  into  his 
hands,  as  fall  we  must.  Man  was  made  not  to  be 
peaceful  and  blessed,  but  to  serve  the  selfishness  of  the 
All- King,  to  glorify  God  and  to  praise  him.  Originally, 
Man  was  made  pure  and  upright.  But  in  order  to  tempt 
beyond  his  strength  the  frail  creature  he  had  made,  God 
forbid  him  the  exercise  of  a  natural  inclination,  not  evil 
in  itself.  Man  disobeyed  the  arbitrary  command.  He 
"fell."  His  first  sin  brought  on  him  the  eternal  ven- 
geance of  the  all-powerful  King ;  hurled  him  at  once 
from  his  happiness ;  took  from  him  the  majesty  of  his 
nature  ;  left  him  poor,  and  impotent,  and  blind,  and 
naked;  transmitting  to  each  of  his  children  all  the 
"guilt"  of  the  primeval  sin.  Adam  was  the  "federal 
head  of  the  human  race."  "  In  Adam's  fall  we  sinned 
all."  Man  has  now  no  power  of  himself  to  discern 
good  from  evil,  and  follow  the  good.  His  best  efforts 
are  but  "  filthy  rags "  in  God's  sight ;  his  prayer  an 
"  abomination."  Man  is  born  "  totally  depraved."  Sin 
is  native  in  his  bones.  Hell  is  his  birthright.  To  be 
any  thing  acceptable  to  God  he  must  renounce  his 
"  nature,"  violate  the  law  of  the  soul.  He  is  a  worm 
of  the  dust,  and  turns  this  way  and  that,  and  up   and 


420  ITS    CONCEPTION   OF   GOD. 

down,  but  finds  nothing  in   Nature   to   cling   by  and 
climb  on. 

God  is  painted  in  the  most  awful  colors  of  the  Old 
Testament.  The  flesh  quivers  while  we  read,  and  the 
soul  recoils  upon  itself  with  suppressed  breath,  and 
ghastly  face,  and  sickening  heart.  The  very  Heavens 
are  not  clean  in  his  sight.  The  gi'im,  awful  King  of 
the  world,  "  a  jealous  God  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  ; "  "  angry  with  the  wicked 
every  day,"  and  "  keeping  anger  forever,"  "  of  purer  eyes 
than  to  behold  iniquity,"  he  hates  Sin,  though  he  created 
it,  and  Man,  though  he  made  him  to  fall,  "  with  a  per- 
fect hatred."  Vengeance  is  his,  and  he  will  repay.  He 
must  therefore  punish  Man  with  all  the  exquisite  torture 
which  infinite  Thought  can  devise,  and  Omnipotence 
apply ;  a  Creditor,  he  exacts  the  uttermost  farthing  ;  a 
King,  upheld  by  his  fury,  the  smallest  offence  is  high- 
treason,  the  greatest  of  crimes.  His  code  is  Draconian; 
he  that  offends  in  one  point  is  guilty  of  all ;  good  were 
it  for  that  man  he  had  never  been  born  ;  extremest 
vengeance  awaits  him  ;  the  jealous  God  will  come 
upon  him  in  an  hour  when  he  is  not  aware,  and  will 
cut  him  asunder.  Hence  comes  the  doctrine  of  "  eter- 
nal damnation,"  a  dogma  which  Epicurus  and  Strato 
would  have  called  it  blasphemy  to  teach. 

But  God,  though  called  personal,  is.  yet  infinite. 
Mercy  therefore  must  be  part  of  his  nature.  He  desires 
to  save  man  from  the  horrors  of  hell.  Shall  he  change 
the  nature  of  things  ?  That  is  impossible.  Shall  he 
forgive  all  mankind  outright?  The  infinite  King  for- 
give high-treason  I  It  is  not  consistent  with  divine 
dignity  to  forgive  the  smallest  violation  of  his  perfect 
law.  A  sin,  however  small,  is  "  an  infinite  evil."  He 
must  have  an  infinite  "  satisfaction."     All  the  human 


CONDITION   AND   LOT    OF   MAN.  421 

race  are  sinners,  by  being  born  of  woman.  The  damn- 
ing sin  of  Adam  vests  in  all  their  bones.  They  must 
suffer  eternal  damnation  to  atone  for  their  inherited  sin, 
unless  some  "  substitute  "  take  their  place. 

Now  it  has  long  been  a  maxim  in  the  courts  of 
law,  —  whence  many  forensic  terms  have  been  taken 
and  applied  to  theology, —  especially  since  the  time  of 
Anselm — that  a  man's  property  may  suffer  in  place  of 
his  person,  and  since  his  friends  may  transfer  their 
property  to  him,  they  may  suffer  in  his  place  "  vicarious 
punishment."^  Thus  before  A*lmighty  God,  there  may 
be  a  substitute  for  the  sinner.  This  doctrine  is  a  theo- 
logical fiction.  It  is  of  the  same  family  with  what  are 
called  "  legal  fictions "  in  the  courts,  and  "  practical 
fictions "  in  the  street :  a  large  and  ancient  family  it 
must  be  confessed,  that  has  produced  great  names. 
But  no  man  can  be  a  substitute  for  another,  for  sin  is 
infinite  and  he  finite.  Though  all  the  liquid  fires  of 
hell  be  poured  from  eternity  on  the  penitent  head  of 
the  whole  race,  not  a  single  sin,  committed  by  one  man, 
even  in  his  sleep,  could  be  thereby  atoned  for.  An  infi- 
nite "  ransom  "  must  be  paid  to  save  a  single  soul.  God's 
"  Mercy "  overcomes  his  "  Justice,"  for  Man  deserves 
nothing  but  "  damnation,"  He  will  provide  the  ransom. 
So  he  sent  down  his  Son  to  fulfil  all  the  law  —  which 
man  could  not  fulfil,  —  realize  infinite  goodness,  and  thus 
merit  the  infinite  reward,  and  then  suffer  all  the  tortures 
of  infinite  sin,  as  if  he  had  not  fulfilled  it,  and  thus 
prepare  a  ransom  for  all;  "  purchasing"  their  "salva- 
tion." Thus  men  are  saved  from  hell,  by  the  "  vicarious 
suffering"  of  the  Son.  But  this  would  leave  them  in  a 
negative  state ;    not    bad   enough   for    hell ;    not   good 

^  "  Qui  non  habet  in  crumena,  luet  in  cute,"  is  a  maxim  ;  and  ita 
converse  holds  good  in  theology. 

36 


422  ITS    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

enough  for  Heaven.  The  "  merits  "  of  the  Son  as  well 
as  his  sufferings,  must  be  set  down  to  their  account, 
and  thus  man  is  elevated  to  Heaven  by  the  "  imputed 
righteousness  "  of  the  Son. 

But  how  can  the  Son  achieve  these  infinite  merits 
and  endure  this  infinite  torment  and  "redeem"  and 
"  save "  the  race  ?  He  must  be  infinite,  and  then  it 
follows ;  for  all  the  actions  of  the  Infinite  are  also 
infinite,  in  this  logic.  But  two  Infinites  there  cannot 
be.  The  Son,  therefore,  is  the  Father,  and  the  Fathei 
the  Son.  God's  Justice  is  appeased  by  God's  Mercy. 
God  "  sacrifices  "  God  for  the  sake  of  men.  Thus  the 
infinite  "  satisfaction  "  is  accomplished;  with  God,  God 
has  paid  God  the  infinite  ransom,  for  the  infinite  sin  ; 
the  "  sacrifice  "  has  been  offered  ;  the  "  atonement  " 
completed  ;  "  we  are  bought  with  a  price  ; "  "  as  in 
Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  ^ 

Now  in  the  very  teeth  of  logic  this  system  under  con- 
sideration maintains  that  God  did  not  thus  purchase 
the  redemption  of  all,  for  such  "  forgiveness  "  would  ill 
comport  with  his  dignity.  Therefore  certain  "  condi- 
tions "  are  to  be  complied  with,  before  man  is  entitled 
to  this  salvation.  God  knew  from  all  eternity  who 
would  be  saved,  and  they  are  said  to  be  "elected  from 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world,"  to  eternal  happi- 
ness. God  is  the  cause  of  their  compliance  —  for  men 
have  no  freewill,  —  hence  "  foreordination  ;  "  they  are  not 
saved  by  their  own  merit,  but  each  by  Christ's  —  hence 
"particular  redemption;"  having  no  will,  they  must  be 
"  called  "  and  moved  by  God,  and  if  elected  must  be 
sure  to  come  to  him  —  hence  "  effectual  calling ;  "  if  to 
be  saved,  they  must  certainly  continue  in  "  grace "  — 
hence  the  "  perseverance  of  the  saints."     The  salvation 

^  See  Theism,  etc.,  Sermon  III.,  IV. 


MERITS    OF   THIS   PARTY.  423 

of  the  "  elect ; "  the  damnation  of  the  non-elect,  is  all 
effected  by  the  "  decrees  of  God ;  "  the  "  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,"  the  "  satisfaction  of  Christ,"  all  is  a  work 
of  "  divine  grace." 

The  doctrine  of  the  "  Trinity  "  has  always  been  con- 
nected with  this  system.  It  does  not  embrace  three 
Gods,  as  it  has  been  often  alleged,  but  one  God  in  three 
persons,  as  the  Hindoos  have  one  God  in  thirty  million 
persons,  and  the  Pantheists  one  God  in  all  persons 
and  all  things.  The  Father  sits  on  the  throne  of  his 
glory;  the  Son,  at  his  right  hand,  "intercedes"  for 
man  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  "  proceeds  "  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  "  calls "  the  saints  and  makes  them  "  perse- 
vere." This  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  covers  a  truth, 
though  it  often  conceals  it.  Its  religious  significance  — 
the  same  with  that  of  Polytheism  —  seems  to  be  this  ; 
God  does  not  limit  himself  within  the  unity  of  his  es- 
sence, but  incarnates  himself  in  man  —  hence  the  Son ; 
diffuses  himself  in  space  and  in  spirit,  works  with  men 
both  to  will  and  to  do  —  hence  the  Holy  Ghost.^ 

1.  Merits  of  this  Party. 

This  party  has  great  practical  merits.  The  doctrine 
sketched  above  shows  the  hatefulness  of  sin,  the  terrible 
evils  it  brings  upon  the  world.  Alas,  it  need  not  look 
long  to  see  them.  It  shows  Man  at  first  the  child  of 
God ;  holding  daily  intercourse  with  the  Father ;  enjoy- 
ing the  raptures  of  Heaven  on  earth,  but  by  one  step, 
cast  out,  degraded,  lost,  undone !  It  shows  the  world 
full  of  sweet  sunshine,  truth,  beauty,  love,  till  Sin  en- 
tered, and  then  —  "  the  trail  of  the    Serpent  is  over  it 

^  See  MlsciiUanies,  Art.  XII.  and  Sermon  of  the  Relation  of  Ecclesi- 
astical Institutions,  etc. 


424  IT   SHOWS   THE   EVIL   OF   SIN. 

all."  It  tells  how  sin  benumbs  the  mind,  palsies  the 
heart,  and  shuts  out  wisdom  at  every  entrance,  bringing 
death  to  the  intellect,  death  to  the  affections,  death  to 
the  soul.  The  great  Enemy  of  men  is  the  child  of  sin. 
It  tells  Man  he  is  the  son  of  God,  fallen  from  his  high 
estate,  and  crushed  by  the  Fall ;  but  he  may  yet  return. 
Christ  will  bind  up  his  wounds  ;  wash  away  all  sin, 
with  his  blood,  and  he  may  start  anew.  It  encourages 
men  who  are  steeped  in  sin  ;  tells  them  they  may  yet  re- 
turn. It  says,  "  Come  unto  Christ."  But  alas,  the  wound- 
ed man,  with  no  freedom,  must  waittill  the  Holy  Ghost, 
like  the  good  Samaritan,  bind  up  his  wounds  and 
bid  him  rise  and  walk.  If  he  is  of  the  elect,  the  in- 
vitation will  come,  and  each  hopes  he  is  of  that  blessed 
company. 

One  excellence  comes  out  of  its  very  defect :  it  thinks 
none  can  be  saved  but  by  accepting  Christianity,  a 
knowledge  of  which  comes  through  the  letter  of  the 
Bible.  Therefore  it  is  indefatigable  in  sending  Bibles 
and  missionaries  the  world  over.  If  they  do  little  good 
where  they  go,  the  very  purpose  and  effort  are  good.  A 
man  is  always  warmed  by  the  smoke  of  his  own  gener- 
ous sacrifice. 

It  recommends  an  austere  morality.  It  calls  on  men 
to  repent ;  addresses  rousing  sermons  to  the  fears  of  the 
wicked,  and  stirs  men  whom  higher  motives  would 
not  move  —  men  who  ask  pay  for  goodness.  It  has  a 
deep  reverence  for  God  ;  and  counts  Religion  a  reality  ; 
insists  on  a  right  heart.  It  watches  over  sin  wdth  a 
jealous  eye.  Coming  from  a  principle  so  deep  as  rever- 
ence for  God ;  believing  it  has  all  of  truth  in  the  lids 
of  the  Bible ;  confiding  in  the  intercession  and  atone- 
ment of  Christ ;  setting  before  the  righteous  the  cer- 
tainty of  God's  aid  if  they  are  faithful,  to  assure  their 


THE  DEFECTS  OF  THIS  PARTY.  425 

perseverance,  and  promising  all  the  rewards  of  heaven, 
it  makes  men  strong,  very  strong.  We  see  its  influence, 
good  and  bad,  on  some  of  the  fathers  of  New  England, 
in  their  self-denial,  their  penitence,  their  austere  devotion, 
the  unconquerable  daring,  the  religious  awe  which 
marked  those  iron  men. 


2.   The  Vices  of  this  Party. 

If  it  have  great  merits,  it  has  great  faults,  which 
come  from  its  peculiar  doctrine,  while  its  merits  have  a 
deeper  source.  It  makes  God  dark  and  awful ;  a  judge 
not  a  protector ;  a  king  not  a  Father ;  jealous,  selfish, 
vindictive.  He  is  the  Draco  of  the  Universe  ;  the  Au- 
thor of  Sin,  but  its  unforgiving  avenger.  Man  must 
hate  the  picture  it  makes  of  God.  He  is  the  Jehovah 
of  the  book  of  Numbers,  more  cruel  than  Odin  or  Baal. 
He  punishes  sin  —  though  its  Author  —  for  his  own 
glory,  not  for  Man's  benefit  and  correction.  All  the 
lovely  traits  of  divine  character  it  bestows  upon  the 
Son  ;  he  is  mild  and  beautiful  as  God  is  awful  and 
morose.  Men  rush  from  the  Father ;  they  flee  to  the 
Son.  Its  religion  is  Fear  of  God,  not  love  of  him,  for 
Man  cannot  love  what  is  not  lovely. 

This  system  degrades  Man.  It  deprives  him  of  free- 
dom. It  makes  him  not  only  the  dwarf  of  himself  — 
for  the  actual  man  is  but  the  dwarf  of  the  ideal  and 
possible  man  —  but  a  being  hapless  and  ill-born  ;  the 
veriest  worm  that  crawls  the  globe.  To  take  a  step 
toward  Heaven  he  must  deny  his  nature,  and  crucify 
himself.  He  is  born  totally  depraved,  and  laden  besides, 
with  the  sins  of  Adam.  He  can  do  nothing  to  recover 
from  these  sins ;  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  the  only 
ground  of  the  sinner's  justification  ;  this  righteousness 

36* 


426  ITS   DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

is  received  through  "  faith,"  which  is  "  the  gift  of  God," 
and  so  "  salvation  is  wholly  of  grace."  The  salvation 
of  Man  is  wrought  for  him,  not  by  him.  It  logically 
annihilates  the  difference  between  good  and  evil,  deny- 
ing the  ultimate  value  of  a  manly  life.  It  takes  out  of 
the  pale  of  humanity  its  fairest  sons,  prophets,  saints, 
apostles,  Moses,  Jesus,  Paul,  and  makes  their  character 
miraculous,  not  manly.  It  tears  off  the  crown  of  royalty 
from  Man,  makes  Jesus  a  God ;  does  not  tell  us  we  are 
born  sons  of  God,  as  much  as  Jesus,  and  may  stand 
as  close  to  God.  It  does  not  tell  of  God  now,  near  at 
hand,  but  a  -long  while  ago.  It  makes  the  Bible  a 
tyrant  of  the  soul.  It  is  our  master  in  all  departments 
of  thought.  Science  must  lay  his  kingly  head  in  the 
dust ;  Reason  veil  her  majestic  countenance ;  Conscience 
bow  him  to  the  earth  ;  Affection  keep  silence  when  the 
priest  uplifts  the  Bible.  Man  is  subordinate  to  the 
apocryphal,  ambiguous,  imperfect,  and  often  erroneous 
Scripture  of  the  Word  ;  the  Word  itself,  as  it  comes 
straightway  from  the  fountain  of  Truth,  through  Rea- 
son, Conscience,  AfTection,  and  the  Soul,  he  must  not 
have.  It  takes  the  Bible  for  God's  statute-book  ;  com- 
bines old  Hebrew  notions  into  a  code  of  ethics  ;  takes 
figures  for  fact;  settles  ■  questions  in  Morals  and  Re- 
ligion by  texts  of  Scripture!  It  can  justify  any  thing 
out  of  the  Bible.  It  wars  to  the  knife  against  gaiety 
of  heart;  condemns  amusement  as  sinful;  sneers  at 
Common  Sense;  spits  upon  Reason,  calling  it  "carnal;" 
appeals  to  low  and  selfish  aims  —  to  Fear,  the  most 
selfish  and  base  of  all  passions.  Fear  of  hell  is  the 
bloody  knout  with  which  it  scourges  reluctant  Flesh 
across  the  finite  world,  and  whips  him  smarting  into 
Heaven  at  last.  It  does  not  know  that  goodness  is  its 
own  recompense,  and    vice  its   own  torture ;  that  judg- 


DEFECTS  OF  THIS  PARTY.  427 

ment  takes  place  daily,  and  God's  laws  execute  them- 
selves. Shall  I  be  bribed  to  goodness  by  hope  of 
Heaven  ;  or  driven  by  fear  of  hell  ?  It  makes  men  do 
nothing  from  the  love  of  what  is  good,  beautiful,  and 
true.  It  asks,  Shall  a  man  love  goodness  as  a  picture, 
for  itself?  Its  divine  life  is  but  a  good  bargain.  It 
makes  a  day  of  judgment ;  heaven  and  hell  to  begin 
after  death,  while  goodness  is  Heaven,  and  vice  Hell, 
now  and  forever. 

It  makes  Religioi]  unnatural  to  men,  and  of  course 
hostile ;  Christianity  alien  to  the  soul.  It  paves  Hell 
with  children's  bones ;  has  a  personal  Devil  in  the  world, 
to  harry  the  land,  and  lure  or  compel  men  to  eternal 
woe.  Its  God  is  diabolical.  It  puts  an  Intercessor  be- 
tween God  and  Man  ;  relies  on  the  Advocate.  Cannot 
the  Infinite  love  his  frail  children  without  teasing  ? 
Needs  He  a  chancellor,  to  advise  Him  to  use  forgive- 
ness and  mercy  ?  Can  men  approach  the  Every-w4iere- 
present  only  by  attorney,  as  a  beggar  comes  to  a  Turk- 
ish king  ?  Away  with  such  folly.  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
bears  his  own  sins,  not  another's.  How  can  his  right- 
eousness be  "  imputed  "  to  me  !  Goodness  out  of  me 
is  not  mine  ;  helps  me  no  more  than  another's  food 
feeds  or  his  sleep  refreshes  me.  Adam's  sin,  —  it  was 
Adam's  affair,  not  mine. 

This  system  applies  to  God  the  language  of  kings' 
courts,  trial,  sentence,  judgment,  pardon,  satisfaction, 
allegiance,  day  of  judgment.  Like  a  courtier  it  lays 
stress  on  forms  —  baptism,  w^iich  in  itself  is  nothing 
but  a  dispensation  of  water,  the  Lord's  supper,  which 
of  itself  is  nothing  but  a  dispensation  of  wine  and 
bread.  It  dwells  in  professions  of  faith  ;  watches  for. 
God's  honor.  It  makes  men  stiff,  unbending,  cold, 
formal,  austere,  seldom  lovely.     They  have  the  strength 


428  ITS   HEAVEN. 

of  the  Law,  not  the  beauty  of  the  Gospel ;  the  cunning 
of  the  Pharisee,  not  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian. 
You  know  its  followers  soon  as  you  see  them  ;  the 
rose  is  faded  out  of  their  cheeks  ;  their  mouths  drooping 
and  sad  ;  their  appearance  says,  Alas,  my.fellow  worm! 
there  is  no  more  sunshine,  for  the  world  is  damned  I 
It  is  a  faith  of  stern,  morose  men,  well  befitting  the  de- 
scendants of  Odin,  and  his  iron  peers ;  its  Religion  is  a 
principle,  not  a  sentiment  ;  a  foreign  matter  imported 
into  the  soul,  by  forethought  and  resolution  ;  not  a  na- 
tive fountain  of  joy  and  gladness,  leaping  up  in  win- 
ter's frost,  and  summer's  gladness,  playing  in  the  sober 
autumn,  or  the  sunshine  of  spring.  Its  Christianity  is 
frozen  mercury  in  the  bosom  of  the  warm-hearted  Chris- 
tian, who,  by  nature,  would  go  straight  to  God,  pray  as 
spontaneous  as  the  blackbird  sings,  love  a  thousand 
times  where  he  hated  not  once,  and  count  a  divine  life 
the  greatest  good  in  this  world,  and  ask  nothing  more 
in  the  next.  The  Heaven  of  this  system  is  a  grand 
pay-day,  where  Humility  is  to  have  its  coach  and  six, 
forsooth,  because  she  has  been  humble ;  the  Saints  and 
Martyrs,  who  bore  trials  in  the  world,  are  to  take  their 
vengeance  by  shouting  "  Hallelujah,  Glory  to  God," 
when  they  see  the  anguish  of  their  old  persecutors,  and 
the  "  smoke  of  their  torment  ascending  up  forever  and 
ever."  Do  the  joys  of  Paradise  pall  on  the  pleasure- 
jaded  sense  of  the  "  Elect?"  They  look  off  in  the  dis- 
tance to  the  tortures  of  the  damned,  where  Destruction 
is  naked  before  them,  and  Hell  hath  no  covering ;  where 
the  Devil  with  his  angels  stirreth  up  the  embers  of  the 
fire  which  is  never  quenched ;  where  the  doubters, 
whom  the  Church  could  neither  answer  nor  put  to 
silence ;  where  the  great  men  of  antiquity,  Confucius, 
Bud  ha,    Hermes,    Zoroaster,    Pythagoras,    Anaxagoras, 


ITS   REPRESENTATIVES.  429 

Socrates,  Plato,  Aristotle ;  where  the  men,  gi'eat,  and 
gifted,  and  glorious,  who  mocked  at  difficulty,  softened 
the  mountains  of  despair,  and  hewed  a  path  amid  the 
trackless  waste,  that  mortal  feet  might  tread  the  way 
of  peace  ;  where  the  great  men  of  modern  times,  who 
would  not  insult  the  Deity  by  bowing  to  the  foolish 
word  of  a  hireling  priest  —  where  all  these  writhe  in 
their  tortures,  turn  and  turn  and  find  no  ray,  but  yell  in 
fathomless  despair ;  and  when  the  Elect  behold  all  this, 
they  say,  striking  on  their  harps  of  gold,  "  Aha  !  We  are 
comforted  and  Thou  art  tormented,  for  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth,  and  our  garments  are  washed 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 

This  system  exists  nowhere  in  its  perfection  ;  that  is, 
only  ideal.  It  is  incarnated  imperfectly  in  many  forms. 
But  it  is  the  groundwork  of  the  Popular  Theology  of 
New  England.^  It  appears  variously  modified  in  all 
the  chief  denominations  of  North  America  and  Great 
Britain.  No  one  of  all  the  sects  which  represents  it, 
but  has  great  excellences  in  spite  of  this  hateful  sys- 
tem. Each  of  them  is  doing  a  good  but  imperfect 
work.  A  rude  nation  must  have  a  rude  doctrine.  Yet 
such  is  the  system  on  which  they  rest  their  Theology. 
Though  their  Religion,  say  what  they  will,  comes  from 
no  such  quarter.  This  system  is  older  than  Protestant- 
ism, and  is  the  child  of  many  fathers.  However  it  is 
continually  approaching  its  end.  The  battering-ram 
which  levelled  the  philosophy  of  the  Stagirite  and  the 
schoolmen,  will  beat,  erelong,  on  the  Theology  of  the 
Church,  and  how  shall  it  stand  ?     It  is  based  on  a  lie, 

^  I  have  been  careful  not  to  cite  authorities  lest  individual  churches 
or  writers  should  be  deemed  responsible  for  the  sin  of  the  mass.  But 
I  have  not  spoken  without  hook. 


430  PATERNITY   OP   GOD. 

and  that  lie  undermined.  A  man  who  loves  wife  and 
child,  and  would  die  any  death  to  save  a  friend,  will  be 
slow  to  believe  in  total  depravity;  he  that  sees  a  swarm 
of  bees  in  summer,  or  hears  the  blackbird  sing  in  his 
honeysuckle,  will  not  believe  God  is  a  devil,  though  all 
the  divines  in  the  Church  quote  the  fathers  and  Scrip- 
tures to  prove  it.  God  speaks  truth  always  ;  will  the 
pulpit  prevail  against  Him  ?  The  sands  of  this  Theol- 
ogy are  numbered,  and  its  glass  shaken. 

11.   The  Party  that  sets  out  from  the  Paternity  of  God. 

This  system'makes  God  not  a  King  but  a  Father  and 
Mother,  infinite  in  power,  wisdom,  and  love.  His  love 
rays  out  in  every  direction,  seeking  to  bless  the  all  of 
things.  The  world,  its  overarching  heavens,  its  ocean,  its 
mountains,  its  flowers  that  brighten  in  the  sunbeam ; 
the  crimson  and  purple  that  weave  a  lustrous  veil  for  the 
face  of  Day,  at  the  rising  and  decline  of  light ;  the  living 
things  of  earth,  beast,  bird,  fish,  insect,  so  full  of  hap- 
piness that  the  world  hums  with  its  joy,  —  all  these  it 
counts  but  a  whisper  of  God's  goodness,  though  all  which 
these  babbling  elements  can  teach.  It  sees  the  same 
in  the  Bible,  for  it  will  see  itself,  and  walks  in  the  shade 
of  its  own  halo  of  glory,  and  so  treads  on  rainbow^s 
where  it  steps. 

This  doctrine  of  God's  goodness  is  a  mighty  truth, 
poorly  apprehended  as  yet,  though  destined  to  a  great 
work,  and  development  which  shall  never  end.  Men 
can  only  see  in  God  what  is  in  themselves.  Their 
conception  of  God  cannot  transcend  their  own  ideal 
stature  of  spirit.  Since  goodness  is  not  active  in  most 
men,  nor  love  predominant,  they  see  God  as  Power  to 
be  feared  ;  at  best  as  Wisdom  to  be  reverenced  ;  not  as 


MERITS   OF   THIS   PARTY.  431 

Goodness  to   be  loved ;    nor  can  they  till  themselves 
become  lovely. 

1.    The  Merits  of  this  Party. 

The  merits  of  this  system  are  very  great.  It  makes 
goodness  the  cause  of  all.  God  made  the  world  to  bless 
it.  His  love  flowed  forth  a  celestial  stream  that  sparkles 
in  the  sky,  surrounding  the  world.  Apparent  evils  are 
but  good  in  disguise,  save  only  sin,  and  this  Man  brings 
on  himself,  through  the  imperfection  of  his  nature,  pro- 
gressive and  free.  Goodness  is  infinite,  but  sin  and 
evil  finite.  It  sees  a  perfect  system  of  optimism  every- 
where. The  infinite  Love  must  desire  the  best  thing ; 
the  infinite  Wisdom  devise  means  for  that  end,  and  the 
infinite  Power  bring  about  the  result.  All  things  are 
overruled  for  good  at  the  last.  Sin  is  a  point  which 
mistaken  men  pass  through  in  their  development.  Suf- 
fering is  Man's  instructor.  It  was  good  for  Isaiah  and 
Stephen  and  Paul  to  bear  the  burdens  they  bore ; 
Affliction  is  success  in  a  mask.  It  makes  the  world 
look  fair  and  the  face  joyful.  It  hears  the  word  of  Love 
even  in  the  voice  of  the  earthquake,  and  the  tread  of 
the  pestilence.  Evil  is  not  ultimate  but  transient.  It 
tells  man  of  his  noble  nature  ;  his  lofty  duty ;  his  fair 
destination  if  faithful.  It  makes  Religion  natural  to 
Man ;  bids  him  obey  its  law  and  be  blessed  ;  not  to 
be  good  or  do  good  for  fear  of  Hell  or  hope  of 
Heaven,  but  for  itself.  It  would  not  have  men  fear 
God,  —  the  Religion  of  the  Old  Testament;  but  love 
him  —  the  Religion  of  the  New  Testament.  It  tells 
us  we  are  made  for  progressive  goodness  here,  and 
Heaven  hereafter.  It  denies  original  sin,  or  admitting 
that,  makes  it  of  no  effect,  for  Christ  has  restored  all  to 


432  MERITS    OF   THIS    PARTY. 

their  first  estate ;  thus  avoiding  the  logical  absurdity  of 
the  last  form.  Its  Hell  is  not  eternal,  for  the  Infinite 
Love  of  God  must  make  the  whole  of  existence  a  bless- 
ing to  each  man.  God  is  so  lovely  that  we  flee,  as  chil- 
dren, to  his  arms,  a  refuge  from  all  the  troubles,  follies, 
and  sins  of  life.  It  shows  this  uncontainable  goodness 
in  earth  and  sea  and  sky  ;  in  the  projDhets  and  apostles, 
sent  to  bless  ;  in  Jesus  the  noble  man  who  came  to  help 
the  world  —  to  seek  and  save  the  lost.  It  fills  the  soul 
with  tranquillity,  peace,  and  exceeding  trust  in  God. 
Serenely  the  man  goes  about  his  duties  ;  is  not  borne 
down  with  his  cross,  though  never  so  weighty ;  looks  on 
and  smiles,  fearing  no  evil  but  error  and  lack  of  faith. 
As  he  looks  back,  he  sees  an  end  of  his  perfection,  but 
does  not  despair  at  the  broadness  of  the  divine  law, 
though  his  steps  totter  in  this  infancy  of  his  being,  for 
he  sees  worlds  open  before  him,  where  a  stronger  sun- 
light and  a  purer  sky  await  him ;  where  Reason,  Con- 
science, the  Affections,  and  the  Soul  shall  finish  their 
perfect  work,  and  he  shall  not  be  weary  with  his  walk, 
nor  faint  though  he  runs. 

This  system  allows  no  ultimate  evil,  as  a  background 
of  God ;  believes  in  no  vindictive  punishment.  The 
woes  of  sin  are  but  its  antidote.  Suffering  comes  from 
wrong-doing,  as  well-being  from  virtue.  If  there  be 
suffering  in  the  next  world,  it  is,  as  in  this,  but  the  med- 
icine of  the  sickly  soul.  It  allows  no  contradiction 
between  God's  Justice  and  Mercy.  We  require  to  be 
reconciled  with  Him,  not  He  with  us.  We  love  Him 
soon  as  seen.  It  makes  religion  inward ;  of  the  life  and 
heart;  the  Son's  service,  not  the  Slave's;  a  sentiment, 
as  well  as  principle ;  an  encouragement  no  less  than  a 
restraint.     God  seeks  to  pour  himself  into  the  heart,  as 


THEIR  PRACTICAL  DEFECTS.  433 

the  sun   into  the  roses  of  June.     These   are  no  vulgar 
merits,^ 

2.    The  Defects  and  Vices  of  this  Party. 

So  far  as  this  system  is  derived  from  its  fundamental 
Idea,  it  has  no  defect  nor  vice,  for  the  Idea  is  absolute 
and  answers  to  the  fact  that  God  is  good.  But  the  ab- 
surdities of  other  forms  mingle  their  pestilent  breath 
with  the  fragrance  of  truth  ;  and  the  party  that  poorly 
espouses  this  divine  idea  has  its  defects.  Men  do  not 
see  the  sinfulness  of  sin ;  underrate  the  strength  of 
human  passion,  cupidity,  wrath,  selfishness,  intrenched 
in  the  institutions  of  the  world,  and  belonging  to  the 
present  low  stage  of  civilization.  They  reflect  too  little 
on  the  evil  that  comes  from  violating  the  law  of  God ; 
overlook  the  horrors  of  outraged  conscience,  and  do  not 
remember  that  suflering  must  last  as  long  as  error,  and 
man  only  can  remove  that  from  himself.  They  are 
not  sufficiently  zealous  to  do  good  to  others,  in  a  spirit- 
ual way. 

This  party  has  also  its  redundancies.  It  has  taken 
much  from  the  ungrateful  doctrines  of  the  darker  sys- 
tem. Its  followers  rely  on  Authority,  as  all  Protestants 
have  done.  They  make  a  man  depend  on  Christ,  who 
died  centuries  ago  —  not  on  himself,  who  lives  now ; 
forgetting  that  it  is  not  the  death  of  Jesus  that  helps 
us,  but  the  death  of  Sin  in  our  heart;  not  the  life  of 
Jesus,  the  personal  Christ,  however  divine,  but  the  life 
of  Goodness,  Holiness,  Love,  in  our  own  heart.  A 
Christ  outside  the  man  is  nothing;  his  divine  life  noth- 
ing. God  is  not  a  magician  to  blot  sin  out  of  the 
soul,  and  make  men  the  same   as   if  they   had   never 

^  Theism,  etc..  Sermons  V.-X. 
37 


434        ITS  DOCTRINE  POORLY  SET  FORTH. 

sinned.     Each  man  must  be  his  own  Christ,  or  he  is  no 
Christian. 

No  sect  has  fully  developed  the  doctrine  that  is  legiti- 
mately derived  from  this  absolute  Idea.  When  its  time 
comes  it  will  annihilate  this  poor  theology  of  our  time, 
and  give  Man  his  birthright.  Some  have  attempted  the 
work  in  all  ages,  and  shared  the  fate  of  men  before 
their  time.  Their  bones  lie  mouldering  in  many  a  spot, 
accursed  of  men.  They  bore  a  prophet's  mission,  and 
met  his  fate.  Their  seed  has  not  perished  out  of 
the  earth. 

This  doctrine  in  some  measure  tinges  the  faith  of  all 
sects  with  its  rosy  light.  It  abates  the  austerity  of  the 
Calvinist,  the  exclusiveness  of  the  Baptist ;  does  a  great 
work  in  the  camp  of  the  Methodist.  All  Churches 
have  some  of  it,  from  the  Episcopalian  to  the  Mormon- 
ite,  though  in  spite  of  their  theology.  There  is  some- 
thing so  divine  in  Religion,  that  it  softens  the  ruggedest 
natures,  and  lets  light  even  into  theology.  The  sects, 
however,  which  chiefly  rely  upon  it,  are  the  Universal- 
ists,  the  Restorationists,  and  Unitarians.  But  how  poorly 
they  do  their  work  ;  with  what  curtains  of  darkness 
do  they  overcloud  the  holy  of  holies  !  What  poor  in- 
eptitudes do  they  offer  us  in  the  midst  of  the  sublimest 
doctrines  ;  how  does  the  timid  littleness  of  their  achieve- 
ment, or  endeavor,  stand  rebuked  before  Absolute  Re- 
ligion ;  before  the  motto  on  the  banner  of  Christianity ; 
God  is  Love!  What  despair  of  Man,  of  Reason,  of 
Goodness;  what  bowing  and  cringing  to  tradition! 
Are  not  men  born  in  our  time  as  of  old,  or  has  a  race 
of  Liliputs  and  Manikins  succeeded  to  Moses,  Socrates, 
Jesus,  and  Paul  ?    But  this  must  pass.     The  two  former 


THE   UNITARIANS.  435 

have  at  their  basis  the  old  supernatural  theology,  and 
differ  from  the  strictest  sect  mainly  in  their  exegesis ; 
they  would  believe  any  thing  which  the  Bible  taught. 
They  are,  however,  doing  a  great  work.  But  the  latter 
are  of  more  importance  in  this  respect,  and,  though  few 
in  numbers,  deserve  a  notice  by  themselves. 


Of  the  Unitarians^  and  their  present  Position. 

At  first  the  "  Unitarian  heresy,"  as  it  was  presump- 
tuously called,  was  a  protest  against  the  unreasonable 
and  unscriptural  doctrines  of  the  Church  ;  a  protest  on 
the  part  of  Reason  and  Conscience ;  an  attempt  to  apply 
Good  sense  to  theology,  to  reconcile  Knowledge  with 
Belief,  Reason  with  Revelation,  to  humanize  the 
Church.  Its  theology  was  of  the  supernatural  charac- 
ter mingled  with  more  or  less  of  naturalism  and  spirit- 
ualism. It  held  to  the  first  positive  principles  of  the 
Reformation — the  Bible  and  Private  Judgment.  Con- 
tending, as  it  must,  with  the  predominant  sects,  then 
even  more  arrogant  and  imperious  than  now  —  perhaps 
not  knowing  so  well  the  ground  they  stood  on  —  its 
work,  like  most  Reformations,  was  at  first  critical  and 
negative.  It  was  a  "  Statement  of  Reasons  for  not  be- 
lieving" certain  doctrines,  very  justly  deemed  not  scrip- 
tural. Thus  it  protested  against  the  Trinity,  total  de- 
pravity, vindictive  and  eternal  punishment,  the  common 
doctrines  of  the  satisfaction  of  Christ,  the  malevolent 
character  ascribed  to  God  by  the  popular  theology.  It 
recommended  a  deep,  true  Morality  lived  for  its  own 
sake ;  perhaps  sometimes  confounded  Morality  with 
Piety.  To  make  sure  of  Heaven,  it  demanded  a  manly 
life,  laying  more  stress  on  the  character  than  the  creed  ; 


436  THE   UNITARIANS. 

more  on  honesty,  diligence,  charity,  than  on  grace  before 
meat,  or  morning  and  evening  prayers.  In  point  of 
moral  and  religious  life,  as  set  forth  in  the  two  Great 
Commands,  its  advocates  fear  no  comparison  with  any 
sect.  It  was  not  boastful,  but  modest,  cautious,  unas- 
suming ;  mindful  of  its  own  affairs ;  not  giving  a  blow 
for  a  blow,  nor  returning  abuse  —  of  which  there  was 
no  lack  —  with  similar  abuse.  It  had  a  great  work  to 
do,  and  did  it  nobly.  The  spirit  of  reformers  was  in 
its  leading  men.  The  sword  of  polemic  theology  rarely 
fell  into  more  just  and  merciful  hands.  But  the  time 
has  not  come  to  celebrate  with  due  honor  the  noble 
heart,  the  manly  forbearance,  the  Christian  heroism  of 
those  who  have  gone  where  the  weary  are  at  rest,  or 
who  yet  linger  here.  They  fought  the  battle  like 
Christian  scholars,  long  and  well.  The  sevenfold  shield 
of  Orthodoxy  was  clove  asunder,  spite  of  its  gorgon  head. 
Its  terrible  spear,  with  its  "  five  points,"  was  somewhat 
blunted. 

Thus  far  Unitarianism  was  but  carrying  out  the 
principles  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  to  get  at  the 
pure  doctrines  of  Scripture,  which  was  still  the  standard 
of  faith.  Some,  it  seems,  silently  abandoned  the  divine 
and  infallible  character  of  the  Old  Testament  —  as 
Socinus  had  done  —  but  clung  strongly  as  ever  to  that 
of  the  New  Testament,  while  they  admitted  the  great- 
est latitude  in  the  criticism  and  exegesis  of  that  collec- 
tion. The  Unitarians  were  at  first  the  most  reasonable 
of  sectarians.  The  Bible  was  their  creed.  Thinking 
men, 'who  would  conclude  for  themselves,  say  the 
Church  what  it  might  say,  naturally  came  up  to  Uni- 
tarianism. Hence  its  growth  in  the  most  highly  culti- 
vated portion  of  the  New  World,  and  the  most  moral, 
it   has   been    said.       Men    sick    of   the   formality,    the 


GROWTH    OF   UNITARIANISM.  487 

doctrines,  the  despotism  of  other  sects ;  disgusted  with 
the  sophistry  whose  burrow  was  in  the  Church ;  pained 
at  the  charlatanry  which  anointed  dulness  sometimes 
showed,  as  the  clerical  mantle  blew  aside,  by  chance  — 
these  also  came  up  to  the  Unitarians.  Besides  these, 
perhaps  men  of  no  spiritual  faith,  who  hated  to  hear 
hell  mentioned,  or  to  have  piety  demanded,  came  also, 
hoping  to  have  less  required  of  them.  Pious  men, 
hungering  and  thirsting  after  truth — men  born  re- 
ligious, found  here  their  home,  where  the  Mind  and  the 
Soul  were  both  promised  their  rights.  This  explains 
the  growth  of  the  sect.  The  Unitarians,  seeing  the 
violence,  the  false  zeal,  of  other  sects,  the  compassing 
of  sea  and  land  to  make  a  proselyte,  went,  it  may  be 
thought,  to  the  opposite  extreme,  in  some  cases.  They 
were  called  "cold,"  and  were  never  accused  of  carrying 
matters  too  fast  and  too  far,  and  pushing  Religion  to 
extremes.  They  were  never  good  fighters,  unless  when 
occasion  compelled.  They  stood  on  the  defensive,  and 
never  crossed  their  neighbor's  borders,  except  to  defend 
their  own.  They  thought  it  better  to  live  down  an 
opponent,  than  to  talk  him  down,  or  even  hew  him 
down, — the  old  theological  way  of  silencing  an  adver- 
sary whom  it  was  difficult  to  answer. 

Still,  however,  it  seems  there  always  were  in  their 
ranks  men  who  thought  freedom  was  too  free  ;  that 
"  there  must  be  limits  to  free  inquiry,"  even  within  the 
canon  ;  and  Unitarians  must  have  a  "  creed."  ^  Others 
began  to  look  into  the  mythology  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  to  talk  very  freely  about  the  imperfections  in 
the  New  Testament.  Some  even  doubted  if  the  whale 
swallowed  Jonah.  "  Biblical  criticism  "  opened  men's 
eyes,  and  "  terrible  questions  "  were  asked ;  great   prob- 

^  It  has  since  been  made,  and  such  a  creed ! 
37* 


438  POSITION    OF   THE   UNITARIANS. 

lems  were  coming  up  which  Luther  never  anticipated, 
for  mankind  has  not  stood  still  for  three  centuries,  but 
has  studied  science  and  history,  and  learned  some 
things  never  known  before. 

At  length  the  negative  work  was  well  over,  and  the 
hostile  forces  of  other  sects  were  withdrawn,  or  the  war 
changed  into  an  armed  neutrality,  at  most  "  a  war  of 
posts."  The  "  Christian  name,"  however,  is  not  yet 
allowed  the  Unitarians  by  their  foes,  and  a  hearty 
malediction,  a  sly  curse,  or  a  jealous  caution,  shows 
even  at  this  day  the  spirit  that  yet  keeps  its  "  theologi- 
cal odium,"  venomous  as  before.  It  is  no  strange 
thing  for  Unitarians  to  be  pronounced  Infidels,  and 
remanded  to  Hell  by  their  fellow  Christians  I  Now  the 
time  has  come  for  Unitarianism  —  representing  the 
movement  party  in  theological  afi'airs,  —  to  do  some- 
thing ;  develop  the  truth  it  has  borne,  latent  and  un- 
conscious, in  its  bosom.  It  is  plain  what  the  oc- 
casion demands.  Good  sense  must  be  applied  to 
Theology  ;  Religion  applied  to  life,  both  to  be  done 
radically,  fearlessly,  with  honest  earnestness  ;  assump- 
tions must  be  abandoned;  the  facts  sought  for;  their 
relation  and  theii'  law  determined,  and  thus  truth  got 
at.  Did  the  early  Reformers  see  all  things ;  are  we  to 
stop  where  they  stopped,  and  because  they  stopped  ? 
All  false  assumptions  must  be  laid  aside.  The  very 
foundation  of  Protestantism  —  the  infallibility  of  Scrip- 
ture —  is  that  a  Fact,  or  a  No-Fact  ?  But  this  is  just 
the  thing  that  is  not  done  ;  which  Unitarianism  is  not 
doing.  The  Trojan  horse  of  sectarian  organization  is 
brought  into  the  citadel  with  the  usual  effect  upon  that 
citadel.  The  "  Unitarian  sect "  is  divided.  There  is 
an  "  Old  School,"  and  a  •'  New  School,"  as  it  is  called, 
and  a  chasm  between  them,  not  wide,  as  yet,  but  very 


.OLD  SCHOOL  AND  NEW  SCHOOL.         439 

deep.  The  "  Old  School "  holds  in  part,  to  the  first 
principles  of  the  Reformation ;  sees  no  further ;  differs 
theoretically  from  the  "  Orthodox "  party,  in  exegesis, 
and  that  alone;  like  that  is  ready  to  believe  any  thing 
which  has  a  Thus-saith-the-Lord  before  it,  at  least  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  issue  so  often  made ;  its 
Christianity  rests  on  the  Authority  of  Jesus  ;  that  on 
the  authority  of  his  miracles ;  and  his  miracles  on  the 
testimony  of  the  Evangelists.  Therefore  it  is  just  as 
certain  there  is  a  God,  or  an  immortal  soul,  and  relig- 
ious duties,  as  it  is  certain  that  Jesus  raised  Lazarus 
from  the  dead,  or  that  John  wrote  the  fourth  Gospel 
and  never  made  a  mistake  in  it  I  It  has  somebody's 
word  for  it.  But  whose  ?  Its  religious  doctrine  is 
legitimated  only  by  the  sensations  of  the  apostles. 
This  party  says,  as  the  Unitarian  fathers  never  said : 
There  must  be  limits  to  free  inquiry  ;  we  must  not  look 
into  the  grounds  of  religious  belief,  lest  they  be  found 
no  grounds  ;  "  where  ignorance  is  bliss  't  is  folly  to  be 
wise  I ''  The  old  landmarks  must  not  be  passed  by,  nor 
the  Bible  questioned  as  to  its  right  to  be  master  over 
the  soul.  Christianity  must  be  rested  on  the  authority 
of  Christ,  and  that  on  the  miracles,  and  the  words  of 
the  New  Testament.  We  must  not  inquire  into  their 
authority.  If  there  is  a  contradiction  between  the 
Word  of  the  New  Testament  and  Reason,  why  the 
"  Word "  must  be  believed  in  spite  of  Reason,  for  we 
can  be  much  more  certain  of  what  we  read  than  of 
what  we  know ! 

Thus  the  old  school  assumes  a  position  abhorred  by 
primitive  Unitarianism,  which  declared  that  free  in- 
quiry should  never  stop  but  with  a  conviction  of 
truth.  Unitarianism,  as  represented  by  the  majority  of 
its  adherents,  refuses  to  fall  back  on  Absolute  Religion 


440  POSITION    OF   UNITARIANISM. 

and  Morality,  with  no  reliance  on  Form,  Tradition,  Scrip- 
ture, personal  Authority.     It  creeps  behind  texts,  usage, 
and  does  not  look  facts  in  the  face.     The  cause,  in  part, 
is  plain  as  noonday.     It  is  connected  with  a  poor  and 
sensual  philosophy,   the  same    in  its   basis   with   that 
which  gave   birth   to   the  selfish   system  of  Paley,  the 
skepticism  of  Hume,  the  materialism   of  Hobbes,  the 
denial   of   the    French    Deists  ;    the    same    philosophy 
which  drives  other  sects  in  despair  to  their  supernatural 
theory.     This  cuts  men  off  from  direct  communion  with 
God,  and  curtails  all  their  efforts.     Unitarianism,  there- 
fore, is  in  danger  of  becoming  a  truncated  supernatural- 
ism,  its  apex  shorn  off;  all  of  supernaturalism  but  the 
supernatural.     With  a  philosophy  too  rational  to  go  the 
full  length  of  the   supernatural  theory ;  too  sensual  to 
embrace   the   spiritual   method    and    ask  no  person  to 
mediate  between  man  and  God,  it  oscillates  between 
the  two  ;  humanizes  the  Bible,  yet  calls  it  miraculous  ; 
believes  in  man^s  greatness,  freedom,  and  spiritual  na- 
ture, yet  asks  for  a  Mediator  and  Redeemer,  and  says, 
"  Christ  established  a  new  relation  between    Man  and 
God ; "  it  admits  man  can  pray  for  himself,  and  God 
hear  for  himself,  and  yet  prays  "  in  the  name  of  Christ,'^ 
and  trusts  an  "  intercessor."     It  censures  the  tradition- 
ary sects,  yet  sits  itself  among  the  tombs,  and  mourns 
over  things  past  and  gone  ;  believes  the  humanity  of 
Jesus,  that  he  was  a  model-man  for  us  all,  yet  his  mi- 
raculous  birth    likewise   and   miraculous    powers,    and 
makes  him   an    anomalous    and  impossible  being.     It 
blinds  men's  eyes  with  the  letter,  yet  bids  them  look  for 
the  spirit ;  stops  their  ears  with  texts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  then  asks  them  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  God 
in  their    heart ;    it  reverences  Jesus   manfully,  yet    de- 
nounces all  such  as  preach  Abso]  ite  Religion  and  Mo- 


POSITION    OF   UNITARIANISM.  441 

rality,  as   he  did,  on  its   own  authority,  with  nothing 
between   them  and  God,  neither  tradition  nor  person. 
Well  might  a  weeping  Jeremiah   say  of  it,  "  Alas  for 
thee,  now  hast  thou  forsaken  the  promise  of  thy  youth, 
the  joy  of  thine  espousals  !  "  or  with  the  son  of  Sirach, 
"  How  wise  wast  thou  in  thy  youth,  and  as  a  flood  filled 
with  understanding.     Thy  soul  covered  the  whole  earth ; 
thy  name  Avent  far  unto  the  islands,  and  for  thy  peace 
thou  wast  beloved  ;  the  countries  marvelled  at  thee  for 
thy  songs  and  proverbs,  and   parables,  and  interpreta- 
tions ;  but  by  thy  body  wast  thou  brought  into  subjec- 
tion ;  thou  didst  stain  thine  honor,  so  that  thou  brought- 
est  wrath  upon  thy  children,  and  wast  grieved  for  thy 
folly !  "     It  has  not  kept  its  faith.     It  clings  to  the  skirts 
of  tradition,  which,  "  as  a  scarecrow  in  a  garden   of 
cucumbers  —  keepeth  nothing."     It  would  believe  noth- 
ing not  reasonable,  and  yet  all  things  scriptural ;  so  i 
will  not  look  facts  in  the  face,  and  say.  This  is  in  the 
Bible,  yes,  in  the  New  Testament,  but  out  of  Reason 
none  the  less.     So  with  perfect  good  faith,  it  "  explains 
away  "  what  is  offensive :  "  This  is  not  in  the  canon. 
That  is  a  false  interpretation."     To  such  a  proficiency 
has  this  art  of  explaining  away  been  carried  that  the 
Scripture  is  a  piece  of  wax  in  the  Unitarian  hand,  and 
takes  any  shape :    the    Devil  is  an    oriental  figure    of 
speech ;    Paul   believed    in    him    no    more    than    Peter 
Bayle ;  the  miraculous  birth  of  Jesus,  the  ascension  in 
the  body,  the   stories  of  Abraham,  Jonah,  Daniel,  are 
"  true  as  symbols    not  as   facts ; "    Moses   and   Isaiah, 
never  speak  of  Jesus  in  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  yet 
Jesus  is  right  when  he  says  they  did;    David    in  the 
Psalm   is    a  sick  man,  speaking   only  of   himself,  but 
when  Simon  Peter  quotes  that  Psalm,  the  inspired  king 


442  WHAT   MUST   BE   DONE. 

is  predicting  Jesus  of  Nazareth !  ^  These  things  are  no- 
torious facts.  If  the  Athanasian  Creed,  the  thirty-nine 
articles  of  the  English  church,  and  the  Pope's  bull 
"  Unigenitus,"  could  be  found  in  a  Greek  manuscript, 
and  proved  the  work  of  an  "  inspired  "  apostle,  no  doubt 
Unitarianism  would  in  good  faith  explain  all  three,  and 
deny  they  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  or  the  fall 
of  man.  The  Unitarian  doctrine  of  inspiration  —  can 
any  one  tell  what  it  is  ? 

But  let  the  sect  be  weighed  in  an  even  balance,  its 
theological  defects  be  set  off  against  the  vast  service  it 
has  done,  and  is  still  doing  for  morals  and  religion.  But 
this  is  not  the  place  for  its  praise.  Of  the  "  new 
school "  of  Unitarians,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  embrac- 
ing as  it  does  men  of  the  greatest  possible  diversity  of 
religious  sentiment  and  opinion  —  it  is  not  decorous  to 
speak  here. 

Now  Unitarianism  must  do  one  of  two  things,  affirm 
the  great  doctrines  of  Absolute  Religion  —  teaching 
that  man  is  greater  than  the  Bible,  ministry,  or  church, 
that  God  is  still  immanent  in  mankind,  that  man  saves 
himself  by  his  own  and  not  another's  character,  that  a 
perfect  manly  life  is  the  true  service,  and  the  only  ser- 
vice God  requires,  the  only  source  of  well-being  now  or 
ever  —  it  must  do  this,  or  cease  to  represent  the  pro- 
gress of  man  in  theology,  and  then  some  other  will  take 


^  Dr.  Palfrey's  work  on  the  Old  Testament  by  one  of  its  most 
distinguished  scholars,  finds  small  favor  -with  this  party,  though  except- 
ing the  valuable  works  of  Dr.  Geddes  above  referred  to,  it  is  the  only 
attempt  ever  made  in  the  English  tongue  to  look  the  facts  of  the  Old 
Testament  manfully  in  the  face  ! 


SUMMARY    OF   THE   CHURCH.  443 

its   office  ;    stand   God-parent  to  the   fair  child  it  has 
brought  into  the  world,  but  dares  not  own.^ 

To  sum  up  what  has  been  said:  —  we  see  that  the 
Catholic  and  the  Protestant  party  both  start  with  a 
false  assumption,  the  Divinity  of  the  Churches,  or  that 
of  the  Bible  ;  both  claim  mastery  over  the  Soul ;  but 
both  fail  to  give  or  allow  the  Absolute  Religion.  Both 
set  bounds  to  Man,  which  must  be  reached  if  they  are 
not  already.  Both  represent  great  truths,  out  of  which 
their  excellence  and  power  proceed,  but  both  great 
falsehoods,  which  impoverish  their  excellence  Each  is 
too  narrow  for  the  Soul ;  should  the  persons  who  sit  in 
these  Churches  rise  to  the  stature  of  men,  they  must 
carry  away  roof  and  steeple,  for  Man  is  greater  than 
the  Churches  he  allows  to  tyrannize  over  him. 

^  The  above  was  written  in  1841,  since  then  the  American  Unitari- 
ans, as  a  Body,  have  retreated  stUl  further  back,  siding  with  Mediaeval 
Theology  and  American  Slavery. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OF  THE  PARTY  THAT  ARE  NEITHER  CATHOLICS  NOR 
PROTESTANTS. 

This  party  has  an  Idea  wider  and  deeper  than  that 
of  the  Catholic  or  Protestant,  namely;  that  God  still 
inspires  men  as  much  as  ever ;  that  he  is  immanent  in 
spirit  as  in  space.  For  the  present  pm'pose,  and  to 
avoid  circumlocution,  this  doctrine  may  be  called  Spir- 
itualism. This  relies  on  no  Church,  Tradition,  or 
Scripture,  as  the  last  ground  and  infallible  rule ;  it 
counts  these  things  teachers,  if  they  teach,  not  masters ; 
helps,  if  they  help  us,  not  authorities.  It  relies  on  the 
divine  presence  in  the  Nature  of  Man ;  the  eternal 
Word  of  God,  which  is  Truth,  as  it  speaks  through  the 
faculties  he  has  given.  It  believes  God  is  near  the  soul, 
as  matter  to  the  sense ;  thinks  the  canon  of  revelation 
not  yet  closed,  nor  God  exhausted.  It  sees  him  in 
Nature's  perfect  work  ;  hears  him  in  all  true  Scripture, 
Jewish  or  Phoenician  ;  feels  him  in  the  aspiration  of  the 
heart ;  stoops  at  the  same  fountain  with  Moses  and 
Jesus,  and  is  filled  with  living  water.  It  calls  God 
Father  and  Mother,  not  King ;  Jesus  brother,  not 
Redeemer ;   Heaven    home ;  Religion  nature.     It   loves 

(444) 


SPIRITUALISM.  445 

and  trusts,  but  does  not  fear.  It  sees  in  Jesus,  a  man 
living  manlike,  highly  gifted,  though  not  without  errors, 
and  living  with  earnest  and  beautiful  fidelity  to  God, 
stepping  thousands  of  years  before  the  race  of  men ; 
the  profoundest  religious  genius  God  has  raised  up, 
whose  words  and  works  help  us  to  form  and  develop 
the  idea  of  a  complete  religious  man.  But  he  lived 
for  himself;  died  for  himself;  worked  out  his  own 
salvation,  and  we  must  do  the  same,  for  one  man 
cannot  live  for  another  more  than  he  can  eat  or  sleep 
for  him.  It  is  no  personal  Christ  but  the  Spirit  of 
Wisdom,  Holiness,  Love,  that  creates  the  well-being  of 
men  ;  a  life  at  one  with  God.  The  divine  incarnation 
is  in  aU  mankind. 

The  aim  it  proposes  is  a  complete  union  of  Man 
with  God,  till  every  action,  thought,  wish,  feeling  is  in 
perfect  harmony  with  the  divine  will.  The  "  Chris- 
tianity "  it  rests  in,  is  not  the  point  Man  goes  through 
in  his  progress,  as  the  Rationalist,  not  the  point  God 
goes  through  in  his  development,  as  the  Supernaturalist 
maintains;  but  Absolute  Religion,  the  point  where 
Man's  will  and  God's  will  are  one  and  the  same.  Its 
Source  is  absolute,  its  Aim  absolute,  its  Method  ab- 
solute. It  lays  down  no  creed ;  asks  no  symbol ;  rever- 
ences exclusively  no  time  nor  place,  and  therefore  can 
use  all  time  and  every  place.  It  reckons  forms  useful 
to  such  as  they  help  ;  one  man  may  commune  with 
God  through  the  bread  and  the  wine,  emblems  of  the 
body  that  was  broke,  and  the  blood  that  was  shed,  in 
the  cause  of  truth  ;  another  may  hold  communion 
through  the  moss  and  the  violet,  the  mountain,  the 
ocean,  or  the  Scripture  of  suns,  which  God  has  writ  in 
the  sky ;  it  does  not  make  the  means  the  end ;  it  prizes 

38 


446  SPIRITUALISM. 

the  signification  naore  than  the  sign.     It  knows  nothing 
of  that  puerile  distinction  between  Reason  and  Revela- 
tion ;  never  finds  the  alleged  contradiction  between  Good 
Sense  and  Religion.     Its  Temple  is  all  space  ;  its  Shrine 
the  good  heart;  its  Creed  all  truth  ;  its  Ritual  works  of 
love  and  utility ;  its   Profession   of  faith  a  manly  life, 
works  without,  faith  within,  love  of  God  and  man.     It 
bids  man  do  duty,  and  take  what  comes  of  it,  grief  or 
gladness.     In  every  desert  it  opens  fountains  of  living 
water;  gives  balm  for  every    wound,  a    pillow   in  all 
tempests;  tranquillity  in    each  distress.     It  does  good 
for  goodness'  sake;  asks  no  pardon  for  its  sins,  but  gladly 
serves  out  the  time.     It  is  meek  and  reverent  of  truth, 
but  scorns  all  falsehood,  though  upheld  by  the  ancient 
and  honorable  of  the  earth.     It  bows  to   no  idols,  of 
wood,  or  flesh,  of  gold  or  parchment,  or  spoken  wind ; 
neither  Mammon,    neither  the    Church,  nor  the   Bible, 
nor  yet  Jesus,  but  God  only.     It  takes  all  helps  it  can 
get;  counts  no  good  word   profane   though  a  heathen 
spoke  it ;  no  lie  sacred,  though  the  greatest  prophet  had 
said  the  word.     Its  redeemer  is  within ;  its  salvation 
within  ;  its    heaven   and  its   oracle   of    God.      It   falls 
back  on  perfect  Religion ;   asks  no  more  ;  is  satisfied 
with  no  less.     The  personal  Jesus  is  its  encouragement, 
for  he  helps  reveal  the  possible  of  man.     Its  watchword 
is,  Be  perfect  as  God.     With  its  eye  on  the  Infinite,  it 
goes  through  the  striving  and  the  sleep  of  life;  equal 
to  duty,  not  above  it ;  fearing  not  whether  the  ephem- 
eral wind  blow  east  or  west.     It   has  the  strength   of 
the   Hero ;    the  tranquil    sweetness   of   the   Saint.      It 
makes  each   man   his  own  priest ;  but  accepts  gladly 
him  that  speaks  a  holy  word.     Its   prayer  in  words,  in 
works,  in  feeling,  in  thought,  is  this.  Thy  will  be  done  * 


t 

J 


SPIRITUALISM.  447 

its   Church   that   of  all  holy    souls,  the   Church  of  the 
fil'st-borii,  called  by  whatever  name.^ 

Let  others  judge  the  merits  and  defects  of  this 
scheme.  It  has  never  organized  a  Church  ;  yet  in  all 
ages,  from  the  earliest,  men  have,  more  or  less  freely,  set 
forth  its  doctrines.  We  find  these  men  among  the 
despised  and  forsaken.  The  world  was  not  ready  to 
receive  them.  They  have  been  stoned  and  spit  upon  in 
all  the  streets  of  the  world.  The  "  pious  "  have  burned 
them  as  haters  of  God  and  man  ;  the  "  wicked  "  called 
them  bad  names  and  let  them  go.  They  have  served 
to  flesh  the  swords  of  the  Catholic  Party,  and  feed  the 
fires  of  the  Protestant.  But  flame  and  steel  will  not 
consume  them.  The  seed  they  have  sown  is  quick  in 
many  a  heart;  their  memory  blessed  by  such  as  live 
divine.  These  were  the  men  at  whom  the  world  opens 
wide  the  mouth  and  draws  out  the  tongue  and  utters 
its  impotent  laugh ;  but  they  received  the  fire  of  God 
on  their  altar,  and  kept  living  its  sacred  flame.  They 
go  on  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  race ;  but  Truth  puts  a 
wall  of  fire  about  them  and  holds  the  shield  over  their 
head  in  the  day  of  trouble.  The  battle  of  Truth  seems 
often  lost,  but  is  always  won.  Her  enemies  but  erect 
the  bloody  scaffolding  where  the  workmen  of  God  go 
up  and  down,  and  with  divine  hands  build  wiser  than 
they  know.  When  the  scaffolding  falls  the  temple  will 
appear. 

^  It  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge  on  this  scheme,  since  so  much  has  been 
said  of  it  already.  See  Book  I.,  ch.  VII.  §  3,  and  Book  IT.  ch.  VUI. 
and  Book  HI.  ch.  V.  VI. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE    FINAL   ANSWER  TO   THE   QUESTION. 

Now  then,  if  it  be  asked,  what  relation  the  Church 
sustains  to  the  religious  Element,  the  answer  is  plain  : 
The  Soul  is  greater  than  the  Church.  Religion,  as 
Reason,  is  of  God  ;  the  Absolute  Religion,  and  therefore 
eternal,  based  on  God  alone;  the  Christian  Churches, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  are  of  men,  and  therefore  tran- 
sient. Let  them  say  their  say ;  Man  is  God's  child, 
and  free  of  their  tyranny;  he  must  not  accept  their 
limitations,  nor  bow  to  their  authority,  but  go  on  his 
glorious  way.  The  Churches  are  a  human  affair  quite 
as  much  as  the  State ;  ecclesiastical,  like  political  in- 
stitutions, are  changeable,  human,  subject  to  the  caprices 
of  public  opinion.  The  divine  right  of  kings  to  bear 
sway  over  the  Body,  and  the  divine  right  of  the 
Churches  to  rule  over  the  Soul,  both  rest  on  the  same 
foundation  —  on  a  lie. 

The  Christian  Church,  like  Fetichism  and  Polythe- 
ism, like  the  State,  has  been  projected  out  of  man  in 
his  development  and  passage  through  the  ages;  its 
several  phases  correspond  to  Man's  development  and 
civilization,  and  are  inseparable  from  it.  They  are  the 
index  of  the  condition  of  Man.     They  bear  their  justi- 

(448) 


HISTORY    OF   THE   CHURCH.  449 

ficatiou  in  themselves.  They  could  not  have  been  but 
as  they  were.  To  censure  or  approve  Catholicism,  or 
Protestantism,  is  to  censure  or  approve  the  state  of  the 
race  which  gave  rise  to  these  forms  ;  to  condemn  Ab- 
solute Religion,  called  by  whatever  name,  is  to  condemn 
both  Man  and  God. 

Jesus  fell  back  on  God,  aiming  to  teach  absolute 
Religion,  absolute  Morality  ;  the  truth  its  own  authori- 
ty, his  works  his  witness.  The  early  Christians  fell 
back  on  the  authority  of  Jesus  ;  their  successors,  on  the 
Bible,  the  work  of  the  apostles  and  prophets  ;  the  next 
generation  on  the  Church,  the  work  of  apostles  and  fa- 
thers. The  world  retreads  this  ground.  Protestantism 
delivers  us  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Church,  and  carries 
us  back  to  the  Bible.  Biblical  criticism  frees  us  from 
the  thraldom  of  the  Scripture,  and  brings  us  to  the  au- 
thority of  Jesus.  Philosophical  Spiritualism  liberates 
us  from  all  personal  and  finite  authority,  and  restores 
us  to  God,  the  primeval  fountain,  whence  the  Church, 
the  Scriptures,  and  Jesus  have  drawn  all  the  water  of 
life,  wherewith  they  filled  their  urns.  Thence,  and 
thence  only,  shall  mankind  obtain  Absolute  Religion 
and  spiritual  well-being.  Is  this  a  retreat  for  man- 
kind ?  No,  it  is  progress  without  end.  The  race  of 
men  never  before  stood  so  high  as  now ;  with  suffering, 
tears,  and  blood  they  have  toiled,  through  barbarism 
and  war,  to  their  present  height,  and  we  see  the  world 
of  promise  opening  upon  om*  eye.  But  what  is  not 
behind  is  before  us. 

Institutions  arise  as  they  are  needed,  and  fall  when 
their  work  is  done.  Of  these  things  nothing  is  fixed. 
Institutions  are  provisional,  man  only  is  final.  Corpo- 
real despotism  is  getting  ended ;  will  the  spiritual  tyran- 
ny last  for  ever?     A  will  above  our  puny  strength,  mar- 

38* 


450  INSTITUTIONS   TRANSIENT. 

shals  the  race  of  men,  using  our  freedom,  virtue,  folly 
as  instruments  to  one  vast  end  —  the  harmonious  de- 
velopment of  Man.  We  see  the  art  of  God  in  the  web 
of  a  spider,  and  the  cell  of  a  bee,  but  have  not  skill  to 
discern  it  in  the  march  of  Man.  We  repine  at  the 
slowness  of  the  future  in  coming,  or  the  swiftness  of  the 
past  in  fleeing  away ;  we  sigh  for  the  fabled  "  Millen- 
nium "  to  advance,  or  pray  Time  to  restore  us  the  Age 
of  Gold.  It  avails  nothing.  We  cannot  hurry  God, 
nor  retard  him.  Old  schools  and  new  schools  seem  as 
men  that  stand  on  the  shore  of  some  Atlantic  bay,  and 
shout,  to  frighten  back  the  tide,  or  urge  it  on.  What 
boots  their  cry?  Gently  the  sea  swells  under tlie  moon, 
and,  in  the  hour  of  God's  appointment,  the  tranquil 
tide  rolls  in,  to  inlet  and  river,  to  lave  the  rocks,  to  bear 
on  its  bosom  the  ship  of  the  merchant,  the  weeds  of  the 
sea.  We  complain,  as  our  fathers ;  let  us  rather  rejoice, 
for  questions  less  weighty  than  these  have  in  other  ages 
been  disposed  of  only  with  the  point  of  the  sword,  and 
the  thunder  of  cannon  —  put  off,  not  settled. 

If  the  opinions  advanced  in  this  Discourse  be  correct, 
then  Religion  is  above  all  institutions,  and  can  never 
fail ;  they  shall  perish,  but  Religion  endure  ;  they  shall 
wax  old  as  a  garment ;  they  shaU  be  changed,  and  the 
places  that  knew  them  shall  know  them  no  more  for- 
ever ;  but  Religion  is  ever  the  same,  and  its  years  shall 
have  no  end. 


THE    CONCLUSION. 


(451) 


"  Changes  are  coming  fast  upon  the  world.  In  the  violent  struggle  of  opposite  inter- 
ests, the  decaying  prejudices  that  have  bound  men  together,  in  the  old  forms  of 
society,  are  snapping  asunder,  one  after  another.  Must  we  look  forward  to  a  hopeless 
succession  of  evils,  in  which  exasperated  parties  will  be  alternately  victors  and  vic- 
tims, till  all  sink  under  some  one  power,  whose  interest  it  is  to  preserve  a  quiet  des- 
potism ?  Who  can  hope  for  a  better  result,  unless  the  great  lesson  be  learnt,  that  there 
can  be  no  essential  improvement  in  the  condition  of  society^,  without  the  improvement 
of  men  as  moral  and  religious  beings  ;  and  that  this  can  be  eCfected  only  by  religious 
Truth  ?  To  expect  this  improvement  from  any  form  of  false  religion,  because  it  is 
called  religion,  is  as  if,  in  administering  to  one  in  a  fever,  we  were  to  take  some  drug 
from  an  apothecary's  shelves,  satisfied  with  its  being  called  medicine."  —  Andrews 
Norton.  —  Statement  of  Reasons,  etc.    Preface,  p.  xxii.-xxxiii. 

"  What  greater  calamity  can  fall  upon  a  nation  than  the  loss  of  Worship  ?  Then  all 
things  go  to  decay.  Genius  leaves  the  temple  to  haunt  the  senate,  or  the  market. 
Literature  becomes  frivolous.  Science  is  cold.  The  eye  of  youth  is  not  lighted  by  the 
hope  of  other  worlds,  and  age  is  without  honor.  In  the  Soul  let  the  redemption  be 
sought.  In  one  soul,  in  your  soul,  there  are  resources  for  the  world.  The  stationari- 
ness  of  religion,  the  assumption  that  the  age  of  inspiration  is  passed,  that  the  Bible 
is  closed  ;  the  fear  of  degrading  the  character  of  Jesus,  by  representing  him  as  a  man, 
indicate  with  sufficient  clearness  the  falsehood  of  our  theology.  It  is  the  office  of  a 
true  teacher,  to  show  us  that  God  is,  not  was  ;  that  he  speaketh,  not  spake.  The  true 
Christianity  —  a  faith  like  Christ's  in  the  infinitude  of  man  —  is  lost.  None  beUeveth 
in  the  soul  of  man,  but  only  in  some  man,  or  person  old  and  departed."  —  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson.  —  Address  in  Divinity  College,  etc.,  p.  24-25. 

(452) 


THE  CONCLUSION. 


I.    OF   THE   POPULAR   THEOLOGY. 

Theology  is  the  science  of  Religion.  It  treats  of 
Man,  God,  and  the  Relation  between  Man  and  God, 
with  the  duties  which  grow  out  of  that  relation.  It  is 
both  queen  and  mother  of  all  science  ;  the  loftiest  and 
most  ennobling  of  all  the  speculative  pursuits  of  Man. 
But  the  popular  theology  of  this  day  is  no  science  at  all, 
but  a  system  of  incoherent  notions,  woven  together  by 
scholastic  logic,  and  resting  on  baseless  assumptions. 
The  pursuit  tliereof  in  the  ecclesiastical  method  does 
not  elevate.  There  is  in  it  somewhat  not  holy.  It  is 
not  studied  as  science,  with  no  concern  except  for  the 
truth  of  the  conclusion.  We  wish  to  find  the  result  as 
ve  conceived  it  to  be;  as  Bishop  Butler  has  said, 
"  People  habituate  themselves  to  let  things  pass  through 
their  minds,  rather  than  to  think  of  them.  Thus  by  use 
they  become  satisfied  merely  with  seeing  what  is  said, 
without  going  any  further."  Our  Theology  has  two 
great  Idols,  the  Bible  and  Christ  ;  by  worshipping  these, 
and  not  God,  only,  we  lose  much  of  the  truth  they  both 

(453) 


454  THE   CONCLUSION. 

offer  us.  Our  theology  relies  on  assumptions,  not  ulti- 
mate facts ;  so  it  comes  to  no  certain  conclusions  ; 
weaves  cobwebs,  but  no  cloth. 

The  popular  Theology  rests  on  these  main  assump- 
tions ;  the  Divinity  of  the  Churches,  and  the  Divinity 
of  the  Bible.  What  is  the  value  of  each  ?  It  has 
been  found  convenient  to  assume  both.  Then  it  has 
several  important  aphorisms,  which  it  makes  use  of  as 
if  they  were  established  truths,  to  be  employed  as  the 
maxims  of  geometry,  and  no  more  to  be  called  in 
question.  Amongst  these  are  the  following :  Man 
under  the  light  of  nature  is  not  capable  of  discovering 
the  moral  and  religious  truth  needed  for  his  moral  and 
religious  welfare ;  there  must  be  a  personal  and  mirac- 
ulous mediator  between  each  man  and  God  ;  a  life  of 
blameless  obedience  to  the  law  of  Man's  nature  will  not 
render  us  acceptable  to  God,  and  insure  our  well-being 
in  the  next  life  ;  we  need  a  superhuman  being  to  bear 
our  sins,  through  whom  alone  we  are  saved  ;  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  is  that  superhuman,  and  miraculous,  and  sin- 
reconciling  mediator;  the  doctrine  he  taught  is  Re- 
vealed Religion,  which  differs  essentially  from  Natural 
Religion  ;  an  external  and  contingent  miracle  is  the 
only  proof  of  an  eternal  and  necessary  truth  in  Morals 
or  Religion ;  God  formerly  transcended  the  laws  of 
Nature  and  made  a  miraculous  revelation  of  some 
truth  ;  he  does  not  now  inspire  men  as  formerly.  Each 
of  these  aphorisms  is  a  gratuitous  assumption,  which 
has  never  been  proved,  and  of  course  all  the  theological 
deductions  made  from  the  aphorisms,  or  resting  on  these 
two  main  assumptions,  are  without  any  real  foundation. 
Theologians  have  assumed  their  facts,  and  then  rea- 
soned as  if  the  fact  were  established,  but  the  conclusion 
was  an  inference  from  a  baseless  assumption.     Thus  it 


THE   CONCLUSION.  455 

accounts  for  nothing.  "  We  only  become  certain  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  from  the  fact  of  Christ's  resur- 
rection," says  Theology.  Here  are  two  assumptions  : 
first,  the  fact  of  that  resurrection,  second,  that  it  proves 
our  immortality.  If  we  ask  proof  of  the  first  point,  it 
is  not  easy  to  come  by ;  of  the  second,  it  is  not  shown. 
The  theological  method  is  false  ;  for  it  does  not  prove 
its  facts  historically,  or  verify  its  conclusions  philosophi- 
cally. The  Hindoo  theory  says,  the  earth  rests  on  the 
back  of  an  Elephant,  the  Elephant  on  a  Tortoise.  But 
what  does  the  Tortoise  rest  upon?  The  great  Turtle 
of  popular  theology  rests  on  —  an  assumption.  Who 
taught  us  the  infallible  divinity  of  the  Bible,  or  the 
Churches  ?  "  Why,  we  always  thought  so.  We  in- 
herited the  opinion,  as  land,  from  our  fathers,  to  have 
and  to  hold,  for  our  use  and  behoof,  for  ourselves,  and 
our  heirs  forever.  Would  you  have  a  better  title? 
We  are  regularly  '  seized '  of  the  doctrine  ;  it  came, 
with  the  divine  right  of  kings,  from  our  fathers,  who  by 
the  grace  of  God,  burnt  men  for  doubting  the  truth  of 
their  theology  I "  This  is  the  defence  of  the  popular 
theology.  We  have  freedom  in  civil  affairs,  can  revise 
our  statutes,  change  the  administration,  or  amend  the 
constitution.  Have  we  freedom  in  theological  affairs, 
to  revise,  change,  amend  a  vicious  theology  ?  We 
have  always  been  doing  it,  but  only  by  halves,  not  look- 
ing at  the  foundation  of  the  matter.  We  have  applied 
good-sense  to  many  things.  Agriculture,  Commerce, 
Manufactures,  and  with  distinguished  success;  not  yet 
to  Theology.  We  make  improvements  in  science  and 
art  every  year.  Men  survey  the  clouds,  note  the  varia- 
tions of  the  magnetic  needle,  analyze  rocks,  waters, 
soils,  and  do  not  fear  truth  shall  hart  them  though  it 
make  Hipparchus  and  Cardan  unreadable.  Our  Method 


456  THE   CONCLUSION. 

of  theology  is  false  no  less  than  its  assnmptions.  What 
must  we  expect  of  the  conclusion  ?     What  we  find. 

If  a  school  were  founded  to  teach  Geology,  and  the 
professors  of  that  science  were  required  to  subscribe  the 
geological  symbol  of  Aristotle  or  Paracelsus,  and  swear 
solemnly  to  interpret  facts  by  that  obsolete  creed,  and 
maintain  and  inculcate  the  geological  faith  as  expressed 
in  that  creed,  in  opposition  to  Wernerians,  Buckland- 
ians,  Lyellians,  and  all  other  geological  '•  heresies,"  an- 
cient or  modern  ;  if  the  professors  were  required  to  sub- 
scribe this  every  five  years,  and  no  pupil  was  allowed 
the  name  of  Geologist,  or  permitted  peacefully  to  ex- 
amine a  rock,  unless  he  professed  that  creed,  what 
would  men  say  to  the  matter  ?  No  one  thinks  such  a 
course  strange  in  theology  ;  our  fathc^rs  did  so  before  us.' 
In  plain  English,  we  are  afraid  of  the  truth.  "  God 
forbid,"  said  a  man  famous  in  his  day,  "  that  our  love 
of  truth  should  be  so  cold  as  to  tolerate  any  erroneous 
opinion"  —  but  our  own.  Any  change  is  looked  on 
with  suspicion.  If  the  drift-weed  of  the  ocean  be 
hauled  upon  the  land,  men  fear  the  ocean  will  be  drank 
up,  or  blown  dry;  if  the  pine-tree  rock,  they  exclaim, 
the  mountain  falling  cometh  to  naught.  How  super- 
stitiously  men  look  on  the  miracle-question,  as  if  the 
world  could  not  stand  if  the  miracles  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament were  not  real! 

The  popular  theology  does  not  aim  to  prove  Ab- 
solute Religion,  but  a  system  of  doctrines  made  chiefly 
of  words.  Now  the  problem  of  theology  is  continually 
changing.  In  the  time  of  Moses  it  was  this:  To  sep- 
arate Religion  from  the  Fetichism  of  the  Canaanites, 
and  the  Polytheism  of  the  Egyptians,  and  connect  it 
with  the  doctrine  of  one  God.  No  doubt  Jannes  and 
Jambres  exclaimed  with  pious  horor.  What,  give  up  the 


THE   POPULAR    CHRISTIANITY.  457 

Garlic  and  the  Cats  which  our  fathers  prayed  to  and 
swore  by!  we  shall  never  be  guilty  of  that  infidelity. 
But  the  Priesthood  of  Garlic  came  to  an  end,  and  the 
world  still  continued,  though  the  Cats  were  not  wor- 
shipped. In  the  time  of  Jesus,  the  problem  was  :  to 
separate  Religion  from  the  obsolete  ritual  of  Moses. 
We  know  the  result ;  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  were 
shocked  at  the  thought  of  abandoning  the  ritual  of 
Moses  !  But  the  ritual  went  its  way.  In  the  time  of 
Luther  a  new  problem  arose ;  to  separate  Religion  from 
the  forms  of  the  Catholic  church.  The  issue  is  well 
known.  In  our  times  the  problem  is  to  separate  Re- 
ligion from  w4iatever  is  finite,  church,  book,  person, 
and  let  it  rest  on  its  Absolute  Truth.^  Numerous 
questions  come  up  for  discussion  :  Is  Christianity  Ab- 
solute Religion  ?  What  relation  does  Jesus  bear  to 
the  human  race?  What  relation  does  the  Bible  sus- 
tain to  it  ?  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  truth,  or  for 
truth,  but  every  thing  to  hope.  It  is  about  Theology 
that  men  quarrel,  not  about  Religion ;  that  is  but  one. 


II.     OF   THE   POPULAR   CHRISTIANITY. 

Coming  away  from  the  theology  of  our  time,  and 
looking  at  the  public  virtue,  as  revealed  in  our  life, 
political,  commercial,  and  social,  and  seeing  things  as 
they  are,  we  must  come  to  this  conclusion  ;  either 
Christianity —  considered  as  the  Absolute  Religion  —  is 
false  and  utterly  detestable,  or  else  modern  society,  in 
its  basis  and  details,  is  wrong,  very  wrong.  There  is 
no  third  conclusion  possil^le.  Religion  demands  a 
divine  life;  society  one  mean  and  earthly.  Religion 
says  —  its  great  practical  maxim  —  We  that  are  strong 

^  See  Miscellanies,  Art.  XII. 

39 


458  THE    CONCLUSION. 

ought  to  bear  the  burdens  of  the  weak ;  society,  we 
that  are  strong  must  make  the  weak  bear  our  burdens, 
and  do  this  daily.  The  strong  do  not  always  compel 
the  weak  as  heretofore,  with  a  sword,  nor  violently 
bind  them  mainly  in  fetters  of  iron ;  they  compel  with 
an  idea,  and  chain  with  manacles  unseen,  but  felt.  Men 
most  eminent  in  defence  of  the  popular  theology  are 
loudest  in  support  of  American  Slavery.  Hell  and 
Slavery  are  their  favorite  dogmas!  Who  does  the 
world's  work ;  he  that  receives  most  largely  the  world's 
good  ?  It  needs  not  that  truisms  be  repeated.  Now 
it  is  a  high  word  of  Christianity,  he  that  is  greatest 
shall  be  your  servant.  What  is  the  corresponding 
word  of  society  ?  Everybody  knows  it.  Do  we  esti- 
mate greatness  in  this  way,  by  the  man's  achievements 
for  the  public  welfare?  Oh  no,  we  have  no  such  vulgar 
standard !  Men  of  "  superior  talents  and  cultivation," 
do  we  expect  them  to  be  great  by  serving  mankind  ? 
Nay,  by  serving  themselves  1 

Religion  is  love  of  God  and  Man.  Is  that  the  basis 
of  action  with  us  ?  A  young  man  setting  out  in  life, 
and  choosing  his  calling,  says  this  to  himself:  How  can 
I  get  the  most  ease  and  honors  out  of  the  world,  return- 
ing the  least  of  toil  and  self-denial?  That  is  the  phi- 
losophy of  many  a  life ;  the  very  end  of  even  what  is 
called  the  "  better  class  "  of  society.  Who  says,  This 
will  I  do ;  I  will  be  a  man,  a  whole  complete  man,  as 
God  made  me ;  take  care  of  myself,  but  serve  my 
brother,  counting  my  strength  also  His,  not  merely  his 
MINE ;  I  will  take  nothing  from  the  world  which  is  not 
honestly,  truly,  manfully  earned?  Who  puts  his  feet 
forward  in  such  a  life  ?  We  call  such  a  man  a  Fool. 
Yes,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  a  fool,  tried  by  the  penny- 
wisdom   of   this   generation.      We  honor  him    in    our 


THE   POPULAR   CHRISTIANITY.  459 

Sunday  talk ;  hearing  his  words,  say  solemnly  as  the 
parasites  of  Herod:  "  It  is  the  voice  of  a  God,  not  of  a 
man !  "  and  smite  a  man  on  both  cheeks,  who  does  not 
cry  Amen.  But  all  the  week  long,  we  blaspheme  that 
great  soul,  who  speaks  though  dead,  and  call  his  word, 
a  Fool's  talk.  That  is  the  popular  Christianity.  We 
pray  as  well  as  the  old  Pharisee,  "  Lord  we  thank  thee 
we  are  not  as  other  men,  as  the  Heathen  Socrates,  who 
knew  nothing,  as  the  '  Infidel '  who  cannot  believe 
contradictions  and  absurdities.  We  say  grace  before 
meat;  attend  to  all  the  church-ordinances;  can  repeat 
the  creed,  and  we  believe  every  word  of  both  thy 
Testaments  ;  Oh  Lord,  what  wouldst  thou  more  ?  We 
have  fulfilled  all  righteousness." 

Alas  for  us !  We  have  taken  the  name  of  Jesus  in 
our  Church,  and  psalm-singing.  We  can  say  "  Lord, 
Lord,  no  man  ever  spake  as  thou."  But  our  Chris- 
tianity is  talk ;  it  is  not  in  the  heart,  nor  the  hand,  nor 
the  head,  but  only  in  the  tongue.  Could  that  great 
man,  whose  soul  bestrides  the  world  to  bless  it,  come 
back  again,  and  speak  in  bold  words,  to  our  condition, 
follies,  sins,  his  denunciation  and  his  blest  beatitudes, 
rooting  up  with  his  "  Woe-unto-you  Hypocrites,"  what 
was  not  of  God's  planting,  and  calling  things  by  right 
names  —  how  should  we  honor  him  ?  As  Annas  and 
Caiaphas,  and  their  fellows  honored  that  "  Galilean, 
and  no  prophet,"  —  with  spitting  and  a  cross.  But  it 
costs  little  to  talk  and  to  pray. 

A  divine  manliness  is  the  despair  of  our  Churches. 
No  man  is  reckoned  good  who  does  not  believe  in  sin, 
and  human  inability.  We  seem  to  have  said  :  —  "  Alas 
for  us !  We  defile  our  weekdays  by  selfish  and  unclean 
living ;  we  dishonor  our  homes,  by  low  aims  and  lack 
of  love ;  by  sensuality  and  sin.     We  debase  the  ster- 


460  THE    CONCLUSION. 

ling  word  of  God  in  our  soul ;  we  cannot  discern  be- 
tween good  and  evil,  nor  read  Nature  aright;  nor  come 
at  first-hand  to  God;  therefore  let  us  set  one  day  apart 
from  our  work  ;  let  us  build  us  a  house  which  we  will 
enter  only  on  that  day  trade  does  not  tempt  us;  let  us 
take  the  wisest  of  books,  and  make  it  our  oracle  ;  let  it 
save  us  from  thought,  and  be  to  us  as  a  God  ;  let  us  take 
our  brother  to  explain  us  this  book,  to  stand  between 
us  and  God ;  let  him  be  holy  for  us,  pray  for  us,  repre- 
sent a  divine  life.  We  know  these  things  cannot  be, 
but  let  us  make  believe."  The  work  is  accomplished, 
and  we  have  the  Sabbath,,  the  Church,  the  Bible,  and 
the  Ministry ;  each  beautiful  in  itself,  but  our  ruin, 
when  made  the  substitutes  for  holiness  of  heart  and  a 
divine  life. 

In  Absolute  Relijjion  we  have  what  is  wide  as  the 
East  and  the  West;  deep  and  high  as  the  Nadir  and 
Zenith  ;  certain  as  Truth,  and  everlasting  as  God.  But 
in  our  life  we  are  heathens.  He  that  fears  God  be- 
comes a  prey.  To  be  religious,  with  us,  in  speech  and 
action,  a  man  must  take  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  be  a 
lamb  among  the  wolves.  Does  our  Christianity  enter 
the  counting-room  ;  the  senate  house;  the  jail?  Does 
it  look  on  ignorance  and  poverty,  seeking  to  root  them 
out  of  the  land  ?     The  religious  doctrine  of  work  and 

o 

wages  is  a  plain  thing ;  he  that  wins  the  staple  from 
the  maternal  earth  ;  who  expends  strength,  skill,  taste, 
on  that  staple,  making  it  more  valuable ;  who  aids  men 
to  be  healthier,  wiser,  better,  more  holy,  he  does  a  ser- 
vice to  the  race  ;  does  the  world's  work.  To  get  com- 
modities won  by  others'  sweat,  by  violence  and  the  long 
arm,  is  Robbery,  the  ancient  Roman  way ;  to  get  them 
by  cunning  and  the   long  head,  is  Trade,  the  modern 


THE   POPULAR   CHRISTIANITY.  4r51 

Christian  way.  What  say  Reason  and  Jesns  to  that? 
No  doubt  the  Christianity  of  the  Pulpit  is  a  poor  thing. 
Words  cannot  utter  its  poverty ;  it  is  neither  meat  nor 
drink;  the  text  saves  the  sermon.  But  the  Christianity 
of  daily  life,  of  the  street,  that  is  still  worse,  the  whole 
Bible  could  not  save  it.  The  history  of  society  is 
summed  up  in  a  word:  Cain  killed  Abel;  that  of  real 
Religion  also  in  a  word  :   Christ  died  for  his  brother. 

From  ancient  times  we  have  received  two  priceless 
treasures  :  The  Sunday,  as  a  day  of  rest,  social  meet- 
ing, and  religious  instruction ;  and  the  institution  of 
Preaching,  whereby  a  living  man  is  to  speak  on  the 
deepest  of  subjects.  But  what  have  we  made  of  them  ? 
Our  Sabbath,  what  a  weariness  is  it;  what  superstition 
defiles  its  sunny  hours!  And  Preaching  —  what  has  it 
to  do  with  life  ?  Men  graceless  and  ungifted  make  it 
handiwork ;  a  sermon  is  the  Hercules-pillar  and  ultima 
Thiile  of  dulness.  The  Popular  Religion  is  unmanly 
and  sneaking.  It  dares  not  look  Reason  in  the  face, 
but  creeps  behind  tradition  and  only  quotes.  It  has 
nothing  new  and  living  to  say.  To  hear  its  talk  one 
would  think  God  was  dead,  or  at  best  asleep.  We 
have  enough  of  Church-going,  a  remnant  of  our  fathers' 
veneration,  which  might  lead  to  great  good;  reverence 
still  for  the  Sabbath,  one  of  the  best  institutions  the 
stream  of  time  has  brought  us ;  we  have  still  admiration 
for  the  name  of  Jesus.  K  soul  so  great  and  pure  could 
not  have  lived  in  vain.  But  to  call  ourselves  Christians 
after  his  kind  of  Religion,  while  we  are  keeping  slaves 
and  stoning  prophets  —  may  God  forgive  that  mockery ! 
Are  men  to  serve  God  by  lengthening  the  creed  and 
shortening  the  commandments  ;  making  long  prayers 
and  devouring  the  weak  ;  by  turning  Reason  out  of 
doors   and   condemning  such   as  will   not  believe   our 

^  39* 


462  THE   CONCLUSION. 

Theology,  nor  accept  a  priest's  falsehood  in  God's 
name  ? 

Religion  is  Life.  Is  our  Life  Religion  ?  No  man 
pretends  it.  No  doubt  there  are  good  men  in  all 
Churches,  and  out  of  all  Churches ;  there  have  been 
such  in  the  hold  of  pirate-ships  and  robbers'  dens.  1 
know  there  are  good  men  and  pious  women,  and  1 
would  go  leagues  long  to  sit  down  at  their  blessed 
feet  and  kiss  their  garments'  hem  ;  but  what  are  the 
mass  of  us  ?  Disciples  of  Absolute  Religion  ?  Chris- 
tians after  the  fashion  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  No  ! 
only  Christians  in  tongue.  It  is  an  imputed  righteous- 
ness that  we  honor ;  not  ours,  but  borrowed  of  Tradi- 
tion;  an  "historical  Christianity"  that  was,  but  is  no 
more.  A  man  is  a  Christian  if  he  goes  to  meeting  in  a 
fashionable  place  ;  pays  his  pew-tax ;  bows  to  the  par- 
son ;  believes  with  his  sect ;  is  good  as  other  people. 
That  is  our  religion  ;  what  is  lived,  what  is  preached  ; 
"  like  people,  like  priest,"  was  never  more  true. 

It  is  not  that  we  need  new  forms  and  symbols,  or 
even  the  rejection  of  the  old.  Baptism  and  the  Supper 
are  still  beautiful  and  comforting  to  many  a  soul.  A 
spiritual  man  can  put  spirit  upon  these.  To  many  they 
are  still  powerful  auxiliaries.  They  commune  with  God 
now  and  then  —  through  bread  and  wine,  as  others  hold 
converse  with  Him  forever,  through  the  symbols  of  Na- 
ture, the  winds  that  wake  the  "soft  and  soul-like  sound" 
of  the  pine  tree  ;  through  the  earliest  violets  of  spring 
and  the  last  leaf  of  autumn  ;  through  calm  and  storm, 
and  stars  and  blooming  trees  and  winter's  snows  and 
summer's  sunshine.  A  religious  man  never  lacks  sym- 
bols of  its  own,  elements  of  communion  with  God. 
What  we  want  is  the  Soul  of  Religion,  Religion  that 
thinks  and  works ;  its  Sign  will  take  care  of  itself. 


THE   POPULAR   CHRISTIANITY.  463 

With  US  Religion  is  a  nun ;  she  sits,  of  week  days, 
behind  her  black  veil,  in  the  meeting-house  ;  her  hands 
on  her  knees ;  making  her  creed  more  unreadable ; 
damning  "  infidels  "  and  "  carnal  Reason  ;  "  she  only 
comes  out  in  the  streets  of  a  Sunday,  when  the  shops 
are  shut,  and  temptation  out  of  sight  and  the  din  of 
business  is  still  as  a  baby's  sleep.  All  the  week,  no- 
body thinks  of  that  joyless  vestal.  Meantime  strong- 
handed  Cupidity,  with  his  legion  of  devils,  goes  up  and 
down  the  earth,  and  presses  Weakness,  Ignorance,  and 
Want  into  his  service ;  sends  Bibles  to  Africa  on  the 
deck  of  his  ship,  and  Rum  and  Gunpowder  in  the  hold, 
knowing  that  the  Church  he  pays  will  pray  for  "  the 
outward  bound."  He  brings  home,  most  Christian  Cu- 
pidity, images  of  himself  God  has  carved  in  ebony ;  to 
enslave  and  so  Christianize  and  bless  the  sable  son  of 
Ethiopia  !  Verily  we  are  a  Christian  people  ;  zealous 
of  good- works ;  drawing  nigh  unto  God  —  with  our 
lips !  Lives  there  a  savage  tribe  our  sons  have  visited, 
that  has  not  cause  to  curse  and  hate  the  name  of 
Christians,  who  have  plundered,  polluted,  slain,  en- 
slaved their  children  ?  Not  one  the  wide  world  round, 
from  the  Mandans  to  the  Malays.  If  there  were  but 
half  the  Religion  in  all  Christendom,  that  there  is  talk 
of  it  during  a  "  Revival,"  in  a  village ;  at  the  baseness, 
political,  commercial,  social  baseness  daily  done  in  the 
world,  such  a  shout  of  indignation  would  go  up  from 
the  four  corners  of  earth,  as  should  make  the  ears  of 
Cupidity  tingle  again,  and  would  hustle  the  oppressor 
out  of  creation. 

The  Poor,  the  Ignorant,  the  Weak,  have  we  always 
with  us,  inasmuch  as  we  do  good  unto  them,  we  serve 
God  ;  inasmuch  as  we  do  it  not  unto  the  least  of  them, 
we  blaspheme   God   and  cumber  the  ground  we  tread 


464  THE    CONCLUSION. 

on.  Was  there  no  meaning  in  that  old  word,  "  He  that 
knew  his  Lord's  will  and  did  it  not,  shall  be  beaten 
with  many  stripes?"  They  are  already  laid  upon  us. 
Religion  meant  something  with  Paul ;  something  with 
Jesus  ;  what  does  it  mean  with  us  ?  A  divine  life  from 
infancy  to  age  ;  divine  all  through  ?  Oh,  no  ;  a  cheaper 
thing  than  that;  it  means  talk,  creed-making,  and  creed- 
believing,  and  creed-defending.  We  Christians  of  the 
"nineteenth  century,"  have  many  "inventions  to  save 
labor ; "  among  them  a  process  by  which  "  a  man  is 
made  as  good  a  Christian  in  five  minutes  as  in  fifty 
years."  Behold  Christianity  made  easy!  Do  men  love 
Religion  and  its  divine  life,  as  Gain  and  Trade  ?  Is 
it  the  great  moving  principle  with  us  ;  something  loved 
for  itself ;  something  to  live  by  ?  Oh,  no.  Nobody 
pretends  it. 

No  wonder  "  ministers  cannot  bear  to  hear  the  truth 
spoken  ; "  five  minutes'  talk  will  not  weigh  down  fifty 
years'  work,  save  in  the  Church's  balance.  The  Chris- 
tianity of  the  Churches  stands  at  the  corner  of  the  street, 
and  bellows  till  all  rings  again  from  Cape  Sable  to  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  if  a  single  "heretic"  lifts  up  his 
voice,  though  never  so  weak,  in  the  obscurest  corner  of 
the  earth ;  but  Giant  Sin  may  go  through  the  land  with 
his  hideous  rout ;  may  ride  rough-shod  over  the  poor, 
and  burn  the  standing  corn  and  poison  the  waters  of 
the  nation,  and  shake  the  very  Church  till  the  steeple 
rock — and  there  shall  not  a  dog  wag  his  tongue. 
When  did  the  Christianity  of  the  churches  leave  a 
heresy  unscathed ;  when  did  it  ever  denounce  a  pop- 
ular sin —  the  desolation  of  intemperance,  our  butch- 
ery of  the  Indians,  the  soul-destroying  traffic  in  the  flesh 
and  blood  of  men  "  for  whom  Christ  died  ?  "  These 
things  need  no  comment.     They  tell   their  own  tale. 


THE   POPULAR   CHRISTIANITY.  465 

Where  is  the  infidelity  of  this  age  ?  Read  the  secta- 
rian newspapers.  We  have  a  theological  Religion  to 
defend  with  tracts,  sermons,  ministers,  and  scandal.  It 
needs  all  that  to  defend  it. 

No  wonder  young  men,  and  young  women  too,  of 
the  most  spiritual  stamp,  lose  their  reverence  for  the 
Church,  or  come  into  it  only  for  a  slumber,  irresistible, 
profound,  and  strangely  similar  to  death.  What  con- 
cord hath  freedom  with  slavery  ?  Talent  goes  to  the 
world,  not  the  churches.  No  wonder  Unbelief  scoffs 
in  the  public  print,  "  beside  what  that  grim  wolf,  with 
privy  paw,  daily  devours  apace,  and  nothing  said ; " 
there  is  an  unbelief,  worse  than  the  public  scoffing, 
though  more  secret,  which  needs  not  be  spoken  of.  No 
wonder  the  old  cry  is  raised,  "  The  Church  in  danger," 
as  its  crazy  timbers  sway  to  and  fro  if  a  strong  man 
treads  its  floors.  But  what  then?  What  is  true  never 
fails.  Religion  is  permanent  in  the  race  ;  Christianity 
everlasting  as  God.  These  can  never  perish,  through 
the  ti'eachery  of  their  defenders,  or  the  violence  of  their 
foes.  We  look  round  us,  and  all  seems  to  change  ; 
what  was  solid  last  night,  is  fluid  and  passed  off  to-day ; 
the  theology  of  our  fathers  is  unreadable ;  the  doctrines 
of  the  middle-age  "divines"  is  deceased  like  them. 
Shall  our  mountain  stand  ?  "  Everywhere  is  instability 
and  insecurity."  It  is  only  men's  heads  that  swim ; 
not  the  stars  that  run  round.  The  Soul  of  man  remains 
the  same  ;  Absolute  Religion  does  not  change;  God  still 
speaks  in  Mind  and  Conscience,  Heart  and  Soul  ; 
is  still  immanent  in  his  children.  We  need  no  new 
forms ;  the  old,  Baptism  and  the  Supper,  are  still  beau- 
tiful to  many  a  man,  and  speak  blessed  words  of  relig- 
ious significance.  Let  them  continue  for  such  as  need 
them.      We  want  real  Christianity,  the  absolute  Relig- 


466  THE   CONCLUSION.  - 

ion,  preached  with  faith  and  applied  to  life;  Being 
Good  and  Doing  Good.  There  is  but  one  real  Relig- 
ion ;  we  need  only  open  our  eyes  to  see  that ;  only  live 
it,  in  love  to  God,  and  love  to  Man,  and  we  are  blest  of 
Him  that  liveth  forever  and  ever. 


THE    END. 


